First time writer/director John Cameron Mitchell brings to the screen the Broadway hit, in which he starred, and also reprises the lead of Hedwig. Part Rocky Horror, Spinal Tap and The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, the film is an outrageous mix of transsexual characters, comedy, drama and great music. He has done an excellent job of adapting the material for the screen, which was co-written by Stephen Trask, who penned the tunes.

The story is as gender-bending as you get, with a special secret at its core. A rock-and-roll drag queen tells of her bizarre life, while performing songs in a series of Bildgewater diners - shipwreck themes running throughout - and on the outskirts of a festival in celebration of women's music, in Hedwig's case a hill where 'Port-a-Jane' toilets are.

Starting as a boy in East Berlin, before reunification, Hedwig falls in love with an American GI, then goes for a sex-change operation, waking up to find nothing but a "one-inch mound of flesh" where her organ should be. From then on the story unfolds, as Hedwig forms her band and performs her songs - most memorable being Wig In A Box and the beautiful mythical rock ballad, Origin Of Love, which tells us how we are all joined and the gods split us in half and we truly become one again when we make love, but if we misbehave they will split us again so that we hop around on one leg and see through one eye.

This is a film about becoming whole and searching for your other half.

From a straight perspective, the overall message is a poignant one. It is a very special piece of filmmaking, which deserves a lot more recognition. The acting is spot on, most notably Mitchell and Miriam Shor - a woman in real life - as Hedwig's butch transvestite husband, who dreams of being the lead in a new production. These are actors who come from a theatrical background and so the quality of performance is guaranteed. Mitchell gives Hedwig so much emotional depth that you forget the movie's concept is so daft.

The film has everything - great music, costume design, superb acting, a heart-rending story - which, although not as experimental as Moulin Rouge, certainly redefines the rock musical.