rating:
(out of
4 stars)Australia; 1994
Directed by Stephan Elliott; produced by Al Clark, Michael Hamlyn; written by Stephan Elliott
Starring Hugo Weaving, Guy Pearce, Terence Stamp, Bill Hunter, Rebel Russell, John Casey
Below you will find a temporary review for this film. The real (better, more complete) review will be online very soon.
Mr. Smith from 'The Matrix' or Elrond from 'The Lord of the Rings', the cool
guy from quite some British films, and that guy from 'Memento' star in 'The
Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert'. I start with saying this
because for me this was the first part of the fun I had with this film. You
see, the actors I am talking about are Hugo Weaving, Terence Stamp and Guy
Pearce, actors you at least know by face. Here they play three drag queens,
although one of them is actually a transsexual, hitting the road to do a
show. Their show exists out of mouthing the words to songs from groups like
ABBA, dressed up in weird costumes that got the film an Oscar for Costume
Design.
The show is in a small place in the desert, a favor from the
Weaving-character to his wife. Yes, he has a wife and a son, too. The
vehicle for their road trip is a big bus which is called Priscilla, Queen of
the Desert. On the way they have the usual encounters in a road movie.
Locals who are not used to people who dress different take care for the
dramatic part, a guy named Bob (Bill Hunter) plays a role in the romantic
part, a big lesbian and a group of Aboriginals are there for the comedy.
Comedy also comes from the three, especially Pearce who has quite some funny
scenes. The music parts were fun to watch, but they did not look very good,
I guess intentionally.
What makes this film better than you might think are a couple of things.
First of all the performances. Especially Stamp as the transsexual is able
to bring a certain coolness to his Bernadette while being a real lady at the
same time. Like I said, Pearce as the stereotype drag queen does a nice job
as well. The film also benefits from the way the material is handled. It is
serious at times but finds enough room for playful moments, not in a
distracting way. I know close to nothing about the life of drag queens, but
'Priscilla' seems to picture it the way it could be. Well, if they were on
the road in the desert that is.