Astonishing

Rating: Null/10 (8 October 1998)

I went to the premier at the New York Film Festival last week and all I can say is one word: amazing. This film is a pure, sublime trip of an experience with brilliant music that literally makes you rise from your seat and dance. Granted, the actors do not chew up the scenery--the scenery chews up the scenery--yet this doesn't detract from the strong performances from all of the key players involved. The arc of the narrative is somewhat complex--but refreshingly so as the concentric plots and characters interwoven create a unique tapestry of sound and beauty, the likes of which have never been committed to a fall release/art movie before (or any movie in general for that matter).
Unfortunately some people will be turned off by the profound gay content (as demonstrated by the other reviews on this site)-- but then again some people will always be turned off by anything that deals bluntly with alternate sexuality.
Anyone who is a fan of movies and music will be moved by this film on some level--it is empirically fascinating and not elitist in its intellectualism or ideas in the least bit--in fact it works on a pristine visceral level, where the images and sounds not only provide a running commentary on protean identity, but also fetishize and celebrate self-empowerment through baroque posturing and charade--the point being, paradoxically, that we never know our icons (whomever they may be) even though they ultimately help us come to understand ourselves and our place in the world.