Hedwig and the Angry Inch

This is a glam rock musical made to a movie after a successful running on the broadway. This film might not be everyone's cup of tea but you can't ignore it. Considering is a debut of a director who also acts as the principal character of Hedwig makes you sit and take notice of him and the film. I had heard a lot about this film specially in the realm of queer cinema which of course raised my expectations over a period of time. We will have to read further whether the expectations were met or not.

The film is set in a mocumentary style where Hedwig is doing commentary and singing songs based on her life. Hedwig born as hansel in East Germany fled to US when he met a soldier in Berllin. he wanted to bring Hansel with him but for that he will have to undergo sex change surgery. The surgery goes bad and he is left with an inch of mass in his front and has to now live with it. Unfortunately, things didn't work out with the guy in US. He is now following this very popular rock singer who Hedwig accuses that he has stolen all his songs. It turns out that when he was between jobs, he met Tommy Gnosis and taught him everything that today he knows about rock. They used to sing together and were lovers for a long time but Tommy found success and later he refused to acknowledge the presence of Hedwig.

The entire movie comes between musical sequences, during Hedwig's interaction with her manager, band, and showing of mixed feelings towards Tommy Gnosis. Her interactions with husband Yitzhak (a male character brilliantly played by a woman) are also serious, heart wrenching and confusing because he is just a back-up singer and whipping boy, a much less important character in Hedwig's life. The music is all hard rock. It is not my cup of tea. The songs take the story forward where Hedwig is narrating his story through commentary and songs. The music sometimes gets so loud that it can cause headaches but thats just the nature of what hard rock is like. The story still remains the same. I would have personally liked the film much more if it was not a musical or even if the music was a different style. people will argue that it is this punk rock style music that makes this film special and watchable and they are fine. It is a very personal opinion and everyone is entitled on one. This movie shows that human beings have faults, emotion, love, anger and strife, no matter what their sex is, or how unusual they seem. The ending is definitely a masterstroke when Hedwig turns a man again and his husband is now a pretty and successful drag queen.

You decide on your own. My ratings will unfortunately be lower. (4.5/10)