John Cameron Mitchell's film, based on his hit off-Broadway musical, is a musical odyssey unlike anything you've ever seen.

Structured as a series of live performances by a strange rock group that performs in dingy strip-mall seafood restaurants across America, lead singer and "internationally ignored song stylist" Hedwig Schmidt flashes back through her unique life story in song.

After fleeing East Germany in 1961 with a G.I. lover, Hedwig discovers heartbreak and deception in America after a botched sex-change operation leaves her with an "angry inch". So she forms a band, The Angry Inch, out of her Kansas trailer which grows to include her second husband Yitzhak (Miriam Shor).

Hedwig thinks she's found her elusive other half after she falls in love with teenage Jesus freak Tommy, whom she rechristens Tommy Gnosis. However, he ends up stealing Hedwig's songs and embarks on a sold-out cross-country arena tour. Hedwig retaliates by launching an Angry Inch tour in Tommy's shadow, thinking she can steal back some of the limelight she helped create.

This poetic and exhilarating film is thoroughly original, and poetically, stylistically and thematically audacious. As well as directing Mitchell is a unique and dynamic talent in the lead role. Watch out for more of him in the future - and his striking debut.

Printer-friendly version