A Modern Rock Musical Classic

In some respects the general public sometimes divides films into two types: "gay movie" and "not gay movie". To the casual viewer any film that centers around gay, lesbian, bisexual or transexual characters is automatically a "gay movie" and thus completely foreign to him or his interests. In the same way that the general white public does not rush out to rent "Boyz in the Hood," so does the general heterosexual public not rush out to rent "Jeffrey".

Occasionally, however, there are those films that hold interest for a larger-scale audience. Though easily lumpable into the "gay movie" category, all types of individuals revel in the debauchery that is "The Rocky Horror Picture Show". And following the analogous pattern, whites and blacks alike flocked to theaters to enjoy "Waiting to Exhale," despite it's underlying black-culture theme.

"Hedwig and the Angry Inch" undertook a very long journey to become the sucessful film that it is. Star and writer John Cameron Mitchell had loosely created the character in his head, and after a fateful flight where he met songwriter Stephen Trask, the show was turned into a loosely assembled piece that played in a gay punk rock club in New York City.

After the desperate assemblage of funds, the show was taken off-Broadway. A small hotel in the Meat Packing District of New York would be the setting for the debut of the production. Their deteriorating ballroom was turned into a theater space, and here, in the place where survivors from the Titanic crash were taken for refuge, Hedwig kicked off.

And thus, from 1994 to the year 2000, production began on the film. Truly a unique picture, "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" is multi-referential. It refers, of course, to it's main character, Hedwig Schmitt, a transexal punk rock performer, and to her band, "The Angry Inch," which includes Hedwigs husband Yitzhak, who may or may not be a biological male. In a somewhat non-linear fashion we are steered through Hedwig's past and also his present, with pieces of things falling into place gradually.

As the film begins Hedwig is on a cross-country tour of performances that are all taking place in a family-diner resteraunt chain called Bildgewater's. His appearance is what one would call shock-drag: outragous make-up and wigs and costumes that serve only to complement his in-your-face song lyrics and performance style. Hedwig is truly a punk-rocker, but he also has a tale to tell.

It seems that the tour schedule is actually following the performances of a currently-hip young Marilyn Manson-esque rocker named Tommy Gnosis. Hedwig alledges that Tommy's hits were stolen from her, and she is looking for a way to prove it. Enter band manager Phyllis Stein (the ever-brilliant Andrea Martin), who is trying to come up with schemes to bring press attention to the situation. (This involves a failed autograph-signing-crashing at a local mall.)

Through narrative and flashback Hedwig also takes us into her past to explain to us how she has become who she is. Hedwig was born Hansel in East Berlin during the cold war when the wall was still in place. A gawky child, he was molested by her father but reluctantly accepted by a Hilter-sympathizing mother. Hansel's only comfort was the American music that came through Armed Forces radio, and he longed to escape.

Enter Luther, an American seargant who convinces Hedwig to marry him. Unfortunately, this means a sex change operation to complete the physical needed to obtain a license and go to America. Thus Hansel became Hedwig. Unfortunately the operation didn't go well; or as Hedwig sings in one of her songs, "My sex change operation got botched/My guardian angel fell asleep on the watch/Now all I've got is a Barbie Doll crotch/I got an angry inch!"

Horribly, after only a short marriage, Luther meets a sexy young boy and leaves Hedwig in their shabby trailer park home. As if that weren't horribly enough, the Berlin wall comes down. It seems as if everything Hedwig has gone through was for nothing.

To get by, Hedwig performs odd jobs at the military base (as she quip, "Mostly the jobs we call blow.") She begins babysitting the infant and 17 year old son of an Army General. It turns out this was Tommy Gnosis, or at the time, Tommy Speck, a "Dungeons and Dragons loving Jesus freak."

Tommy and Hedwig spark up an odd romance. Tommy seeks knowledge, and like Eve, Hedwig can give him that apple. But as the middle-American child of a military man, Tommy can never truly except Hedwig's physical reality, and the relationship ends sourly.

Cut to the present, where the now hugely famous Tommy Gnosis is using everything Hedwig taught him (incuding her songs) to become famous. (In fact, Hedwig even gave him the stage name: "Gnosis" translates to "knowledge.") As Hedwig struggles and struggles to deal with the misery of the situation, she treats those around her worse and worse. Her husband Yitzhak demands a divorce so he can tour in a production of RENT, and Hedwig rips up his passport, dooming him to remain in America as an illegal immigrant or be shipped back to his homeland.

At this point the winds shift and Phyllis and the band abandon Hedwig. She is forced to go back to turning tricks, and who should pull up in a limo but Tommy Gnosis. They attempt to repair things but it simply doesn't work, and during an argument, Hedwig crashes the limo (ironically into a News van.)

Suddenly there is national interest in Tommy's relationship with this transexual punk rocker, and the truth comes out about who has written Tommy's songs. But even as everyone comes back to Hedwig and she gains the fame she has so long craved, the truth of the situation settles into place. Hedwig became someone else in order to please another person, in the most extreme of ways, and in the process he has made two other people change as well: Yitzhak, into what Hedwig could have been, and Tommy, into what Hedwig always wanted to be.

So, in his final performance, Hedwig removes all of his drag gear and goes back to being Hansel; and he places his wig on Yitzhak's head, allowing him to go back to being the woman he once was. He also finally approaches Tommy and leaves him with forgiveness and the chance to live the life that Hedwig has no right to be jealous over, because he helped Tommy to shape it.

Even in ten times as many words as these I could not accurately describe the experience of watching "Hedwig and the Angry Inch". John Cameron Mitchell's performance is so multifaceted that there is something to please every viewer. The songs are brilliant and entertaining, with two stand-outs. "The Origin of Love" seems to be Hedwig's explanation of why she feels she must cross the gender barriors, yet at the same time a sort of myth on how we came to be love craving humans. "Wig in a Box," the number performed after Luther abandons a young Hedwig, is an upbeat and rocking ode to making the best of one's situation. "I put on my makeup, turn on the 8-track/I'm pulling the wig down off the shelf/Suddenly I'm miss Farrah Faucett from T.V./until I head home and turn back into myself."

Mirriam Shore as Yitzhak is an absolute understated thrill. Her resentment of Hedwig bubbles under throughout the film, and with each attempt by Hedwig to upstage Yitzhak, we feel the pain. Truly these two are soulmates of the most genuine kind.

Andrea Martin is best enjoyed in the deleted scenes featured on the DVD, almost all of which revolve around her character Phyllis. Phyllis truly believes that Hedwig is a genuine musical genius, and her sincerity in pursuing his potential fame is pepperred with extremely hilarious personality quirks. In one extended gag completely removed from the final film, Phyllis continually utilizes some sort of cellular phone that is actually implanted into her tooth, until she accidentally knocks the reciever off the base and can't stop a dial tone from echoing out of her mouth.

There are many reasons to enjoy "Hedwig and the Angry Inch." You could rent it for the fantastic musical numbers. You could sit back and enjoy a great story about the human condition and the pusuit of ultimate love. You could marvel in the witty banter and comedic genius (one personal favourite: "Ladies and Gentlemen, be honest, do you like my pelt? Because some B*TCH stopped me on the way in and said 'what poor unfortunate creature had to die for you to wear that?' 'My Aunt Trudy,' I replied.")

Whatever reason, "Hedwig" is a film that will stay in your mind and your heart, and have you feeling a newfound hope for the future of both films and musicals.