A rock musical about a transsexual

Rating: 9/10 (7 April 2004)

'Hedwig and the Angry Inch' is a rock musical about a transsexual from East Germany. Although this does not sound like something I would like to see, I was pleasantly surprised. The story is about Hedwig (writer director John Cameron Mitchell) who comes to the United States. To leave East Germany a sex change was necessary, although it wasn't completely successful, hands the "Angry Inch". We see how (s)he falls in love with Tommy (Michael Pitt), how they sing and play together and how eventually Tommy steals all of Hedwig's songs and becomes a rock star. Hedwig is a little mad and with her band she now follows Tommy everywhere he goes on his tour.
I am not sure why I liked this movie. Mitchell's performance is perfect and of course that helps. Hedwig's emotions are very clear to us and you feel sorry for her. I also liked the songs, something I thought I would not do. Of course this is just a matter of taste, but I think it helps a lot for people to like or hate the movie. It should not do that actually, since the story itself is interesting enough. Whether you will like it I don't know but with an open mind I guess there is a good chance you will.