#982: MITCHELL, John Cameron: Hedwig And The Angry Inch (2001)

MITCHELL, John Cameron (United States)
Hedwig And The Angry Inch [2001]
Spine #982
Blu-ray


With this trailblazing musical, writer-director-star John Cameron Mitchell and composer-lyricist Stephen Trask brought their signature creation from stage to screen for a movie as unclassifiable as its protagonist. Raised a boy in East Berlin, Hedwig (Mitchell) undergoes a traumatic personal transformation in order to emigrate to the U.S., where she reinvents herself as an "internationally ignored" but divinely talented rock diva, characterized by Mitchell as inhabiting a "beautiful gender of one." The film tells Hedwig's story through her music, an eclectic assortment of original punk anthems and power ballads by Trask, matching them with a freewheeling cinematic mosaic of music-video fantasies, animated interludes, and moments of bracing emotional realism. A hard-charging song cycle and a tender character study, Hedwig and the Angry Inch is a tribute to the transcendent power of rock and roll.

91 minutes
Color
5.1 Surround
1:85:1 aspect ratio
Criterion Release 2019
Director/Writer


John Cameron Mitchell was 38 when he wrote and directed Hedwig and the Angry Inch.

The Film

A

Film Rating (0-60):

60

The Extras

The Booklet

Fifty-six page booklet featuring an essay by critic Stephanie Zacharek, portraits of Hedwig by photographer Mick Rock, illustrations by animator Emily Hubley, and excerpts from two texts that inspired the film: Plato’s Symposium and The Gospel of Thomas.

Commentary

From 2001 featuring Mitchell and DP Frank G. DeMarco.

Conversation 1

Among members of the cast and crew.

Conversation 2

Between composer and lyricist Stephen Trask and rock critic David Fricke about the sountrack.

Documentary

From 2003 tracing the development of the project.

Close look

At the film’s Adam and Eve sequence.

Programs

Exploring Hedwig’s creation, look, and legacy through its memorabilia.

Deleted scenes with commentary

By Mitchell and DeMarco.

Trailer

Extras Rating (0-40):

39

60 + 39 =

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