Lift up your hands ...

Rating: 10/10 (27 June 2001)

... for a wonderful adaptation of the stage show. I was a bit nervous when I heard Hedwig was going to be a film, though I felt better when I heard John Cameron Mitchell was going to direct as well as star. I can understand why: this is far too original a vision to trust to others, especially when it comes to film.
Suffice to say, Mitchell (and Stephen Trask and Miriam Shor and everyone else involved) didn't let us down. Where the stage show was stripped-down and raw the film is a visual feast, which makes me think Mitchell has an innate understanding of how to use his mediums. The story is a better harder to follow in the film, but the pay-off is equal to the show. They kept all of Trask's remarkable music (the variety of styles is mostly amazing for how well it all works) from the show, with the exception of "The Long Grift."

Don't be scared off by the off-beat subject matter. This is a brilliant, funny, sad, and ultimately transcendent story; for all her seeming oddity, Hedwig is one the most essentially human characters you will ever see in a film. As Mitchell himself once said, "Hedwig is for everybody."

Look for the "Wig in a Box" and "Wicked Little Town (Tommy)/Midnight Radio" sequences. Beautiful.
Oh, and Emily Hubley did a great job on the animations.
10/10, of course.