TRANSsendent!

Rating: 9/10 (25 July 2001)

I have been a big fan of "Hedwig" ever since I saw the David Bowie produced stage version when it played in L.A. I was blown away by the ferocious, infectious rock score and the vulgar wit of the text and its creative blending of genres, it's a wonderful amalgamation of camp comedy, punk rock show, and Greek tragedy.
When I heard they were doing a film version, I was foaming at the mouth. But I was apprehensive about a few things.
John Cameron Mitchell, who also wrote the musical's book, had never directed anything before, I wondered how they were going to structure the screenplay as the stage show is essentially a one-(wo)man(?) show, I had heard that they were given a paltry budget to work with, someting like $3 Million, and I wondered, would the adaptation still retain the power of the stage work?
Well, when I saw the finished film last week, all my worries about my beloved rock opera were obliterated, ladies and gentlemen, "Hedwig" is some kind of masterpiece, it's bold, virtuosic and possesses a vitality that's missing in today's crowded film scene, independent or otherwise.
John Cameron Mitchell is a prodigy, a born filmmaker, the movie is aggressively visual, the editing is smooth, has a great rhythm to it, and the perfomances are uniformly excellent. I suspect that he did have some help, both Tom Kalin (director of "Swoon") and Todd Haynes ("Safe, "Poison", "Velvet Goldmine") are in the Special Thanks credits at the end of the film. The film's style is somewhat imitative of Haynes' "Velvet Goldmine", which I also consider a great film, but "Hedwig" is more more accessible.
The movie's script expands on the stage show and retain's the book's energy and wit, but the character of Yitzak is gravely undedeveloped and his relationship to Hedwig in the film is unclear.
For those not familiar with the stage show, Yitzak is Hedwig's husband and back up singer. Hedwig met him while touring Eastern Europe. Yitzak was his backwater country's most famous and fabulous drag queen performer and like Hedwig years before, longed for a better life in America. So, Hedwig agrees to marry Yitzak, but with one condition, he must never do drag ever again. ("To be free, one must give a little part of oneself") Yitzak agrees and becomes Hedwig's sidekick, the butt of humiliating jokes, forced to live in the shadow of his wife. Yitzak is a bitter man and I think that comes through in the movie.
As for the small budget, they made great use of it, every penny is on screen, unlike most bloated unimaginative Hollywood fare in which more money and attention is spent on catering and lenses than the script and the performances. The film is gorgeously shot and Hedwig looks fabulous in the orginal costumes.
So, run to see this movie! Ignore all the comparisons to "Rocky Horror". Unlike that film, "Hedwig' trascends the camp trappings and achieves a real epiphany and has palpable humanity and it has all the great qualities of punk rock, it's fast, loud, possesses unabashed angst and rage, a tinge of dread, helplessness and finally, the feeling that you can liberate yourself from injustice and helplessness through the power of song.
The only thing I can even think of comparing this unique gem to is Almadovar's "Todo Sobre mi Madre", with its delicate balance of camp, humor, tragedy, high drama, humanity, and at last, hope.
"Hedwig" is unlike anything before it, an instant classic that rises above this new genre of postmodern musical, in which von Trier's flawed, but bold "Dancer in the Dark", Woody Allen's reverent "Everyone Says I Love You", and the horrible, soulless commercial that is "Moulin Rouge" are included.
It's unlikely that this film will be nominated for any Oscars, I think it's a little much for the Academy's Jurassic-aged members, but if I were voting: Best Actor for Mitchell, Supporting Actress for Miriam Shor as Yitzak, best costumes, and Make Up (of course). Well, you never know, trannies and other gender bending roles have been popular, last year, Hillary Swank did win for her turn as a female to male trannie in "Boys Don't Cry", Jaye Davidson was nominated for "The Crying Game", and don't forget about Linda Hunt's win for playing a man in "Year of Living Dangerously", sadly, though, the film's songs are ineligible for any tropihes becuase they were not made