Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001)

Director:

John Cameron Mitchell

Writers (WGA):

John Cameron Mitchell (book) and
Stephen Trask (book) ...

Release Date:

27 July 2001 (Canada)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Music

Tagline:

An anatomically incorrect rock odyssey

Plot:

A transexual punk rock girl from East Berlin tours the US with her rock band as she tells her life story and follows the ex-boyfriend/bandmate who stole her songs.

Plot Keywords:

Rock Band | Sex Change | Reference To Adam And Eve | Transvestism | Betrayal

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 27 wins & 27 nominations

Cast

John Cameron Mitchell	...	Hedwig
Miriam Shor	...	Yitzhak
Stephen Trask	...	Skszp - Band Member
Theodore Liscinski	...	Jacek - Band Member
Rob Campbell	...	Krzysztof - Band Member
Michael Aronov	...	Schlatko - Band Member
Andrea Martin	...	Phyllis Stein
Ben Mayer-Goodman	...	Hansel - 6 years old
Alberta Watson	...	Hansel's Mom
Gene Pyrz	...	Hansel's Dad
Michael Pitt	...	Tommy Gnosis
Karen Hines	...	Tommy's Publicist
Max Toulch	...	Goth Menses Boy
Maurice Dean Wint	...	Sgt. Luther Robinson
Ermes Blarasin	...	Fat Man

MPAA:

Rated R for sexual content and language.

Runtime:

95 min | Argentina:93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | German

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:L | Portugal:M/16 | USA:R (certificate #37948) | Argentina:16 | Netherlands:12 | Norway:11 | Singapore:NC-16 | South Korea:15 | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | Australia:MA

Filming Locations:

The Eaton Center, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Company:

Killer Films

Trivia:

Stephen Trask, who wrote the songs and score for the film, also provides the singing voice for Tommy.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): On the poster advertising for auditions for a production of Rent (2005), the character of Collins is described as 'Young, Edgy, Black, Aspiring Musician.' However, Collins is actually a philosophy professor. The 'aspiring musician' of Rent is Roger.

Quotes:

Hedwig: Stop. You come in here crying, and you want to recreate with me.
[Tommy laughs]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Confessions of a Drag Queen (2006)

Soundtrack:

Freaks

Unbelievably Amazing and Completely Kick-Ass.

The press kit touts this film as a "Post-punk neo-glam rock odyssey," based on the hit off-broadway show that ran in New York from 1998-2000. Some people have compared it to the Rocky Horror Picture Show, but that's only because it's the only other Glam Rock musical ever made into a movie.

The premise alone should make you want to see it: A rock-and-roll drag queen tells her bizarre life story, starting as a boy in East Berlin, falling in love with an American GI, and going for a sex-change operation, waking up to find nothing but a "one-inch mound of flesh" where her organ should be. The story takes more twists and turns after that, and I don't want to spoil anything.

The story is told mostly through the songs, which are perfect rock and roll gems, on par with the songs from Tommy. After only seeing it once, I walked away singing the words "Six inches forward and five inches back...I've got an angry inch!" over and over for days.

For a directorial debut with no big-name movie stars, the acting is right on the mark. These are theater people, after all, and there's none of the cringeworthy bad acting you see in a lot of independent films. John Cameron Mitchell gives the character Hedwig so much emotional depth, you forget that the premise is so silly.

The costumes are amazing, as you would expect from a movie with a drag queen as the main character. Hedwig wears no less than 41 outfits, one of which is a dress made entirely of hair.

I came away from this movie totally inspired. It positively electrified me with an energy I rarely feel from movies anymore. And I don't even like musicals!