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Information
- Year
- 2001
- Runtime
- 95 min.
- Director
- John Cameron Mitchell
- Genres
- Drama, Comedy, Musical, Music
- Rating *
- 7.7
- Votes *
- 25,265
- Checks
- 5,363
- Favs
- 630
- Dislikes
- 39
- Favs/checks
- 11.7% (1:9)
- Favs/dislikes
- 16:1
Top comments
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Siskoid
Hedwig and the Angry Inch is an amazing musical about identity, how it is created, copied, rejected and embraced. On the surface of it, it's the story of a transgender rock star from East Berlin tracking her former lover who has stolen all her songs, and it's told mostly in a series of performances and monologues (which lead into flashbacks). But the very entertaining surface, full of crazy glampunk, dry humor and fun songs, is only one of many levels the film has to offer. Its flirtation with androgyny is obviously inspired by the rejection of traditional gender in everything from Rocky Horror to David Bowie to Queen to Poison, and suggests that rebellion is as essential as anything in rock and roll. Imagery pulled from both the Bible and Greek Myth intimates that we are all partly male and partly female, which eliminates the need to label it. Hedwig and her paramour Tommy Gnosis are but two halves of the same soul, a statement that may make sense of the odd ending, but then, the gender theme (and that of Berlin and its wall) can also be used as a symbol for wholeness, or un-wholeness, so long as we feel we need another person to feel complete. With its comical songs and energetic numbers, you wouldn't expect this to be such a thinker, but it most definitely is. 6 years 8 months ago -
BigAwesomeBLT
I got a rocky horror vibe, more so from the music than the main character. The way it was shot felt very Terry Gilliam. Ticked a lot of boxes for me, really great, will be showing to friends who like weird movies. 9 years 5 months ago -
Princess_Of_Snails
Absolutely fantastic! I really enjoyed this one. The music and story were just great! 10 years 5 months ago
Friends
Login to see which of your friends have seen this movie!In 10 official lists
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This movie ranks #31 in IMDb's Musical Top 50
IMDb's Musical Top 50
31 -
This movie ranks #41 in IMDb's Music Top 50
IMDb's Music Top 50
41 -
This movie ranks #44 in BFI Flare's The Best LGBTQ+ Films of All Time
BFI Flare's The Best LGB…
44 -
This movie ranks #87 in Scott Tobias's The New Cult Canon
Scott Tobias's The New C…
87 -
This movie ranks #100 in iCheckMovies's 2000s Top 100
iCheckMovies's 2000s Top…
100 -
This movie ranks #107 in 366 Weird Movies
366 Weird Movies
107 -
This movie ranks #143 in Badmovies.org's Best B-Movies
Badmovies.org's Best B-M…
143 -
This movie ranks #399 in The Guardian's 1000 Films to See Before You Die
The Guardian's 1000 Film…
399 -
This movie ranks #543 in TSPDT's 21st Century's Most Acclaimed Films
TSPDT's 21st Century's M…
543 -
This movie ranks #1194 in The Criterion Collection
The Criterion Collection
1194