Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5607 in DVD
• Released on: 2002-01-21
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English, German
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 95 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Sometimes grace and hope come in surprising packages. The title character of Hedwig and the Angry Inch--a would-be glam-rock star from East Germany--undergoes a botched gender-change operation in order to escape from the Soviet bloc, only to watch the Berlin Wall come down on TV after being abandoned in a trailer park in middle America. Hedwig gets involved with Tommy, an adolescent boy who steals her songs and becomes a stadium-filling musical act. Suffering from a broken heart and a lust for revenge, Hedwig follows Tommy's tour, playing with her band (The Angry Inch) at tacky theme restaurants. Into this simple storyline, writer-director-star John Cameron Mitchell packs an astonishing mix of sadness, yearning, humour and kick-ass songs with a little Platonic philosophy tucked inside for good measure. A visually dazzling gem of a movie. --Bret Fetzer, Amazon.com

Special Features
English
Region 2

Synopsis
John Cameron Mitchell is the creator of the off-Broadway hit HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH, which he and composer-lyricist Stephen Trask have transformed into a funny, dramatic, and curiously poignant self-described "post-punk neo-glam musical" film, with extra songs and a new instrumental score. Hedwig (played by Mitchell) was born as Hansel in East Berlin. In his twenties, Hansel agrees to undergo a sex change in order to marry a U.S. soldier (Maurice Dean Wint) and escape to America. Unfortunately, the procedure fails, and Hedwig is left with nothing but a sexless "angry inch" between her legs. After being abandoned in a Kansas trailer park by her husband, Hedwig decides to make the most of her situation: She develops a taste for outrageous wigs and costumes, forms a band, and becomes a singer. Hedwig soon meets and falls in love with 17-year-old Tommy (Michael Pitt), who also harbors rock star aspirations, and makes him her musical protege. But Tommy is the one who ends up stealing the superstardom that Hedwig worked for, after stealing Hedwig's songs and claiming them as his own. In order to expose him as a fraud, she embarks on a tour of strip mall restaurants, telling her story to the audience while trailing Tommy on his own tour across America.

Customer Reviews

Surprising and Stunning
As one of the arrogant, convinced of my own aesthetic judgement, I have made it one of my life's works to show this film to as many people as I can. No-one has disagreed thus far. It can be quite a hard sell - a punk-rock musical about transsexualism leads the legions of Rocky Horror nay-sayers into a panic of anticipated dislike, but the story, once you watch it, is universal, tragic, and ultimately uplifting. Of course it doesn't hurt that the songs kick ass as well, but rather than the traditional spontaneous bursting into song that irritates critics of musicals, the music is kept in it's rightful place - on stage and performed to a crowd by a real band. This doesn't mean it's incidental - the more you watch this film, the more the music means.

The story has been outlined above and below; all I have to offer by way of new input is that I have watched this film many times with many people, and have loved it every time, as have they. For the lonely, the wistful, and the unfulfilled romantics, this film tells a story that begins as bizarrely alien to most of us, and somehow ends up genuinely reflecting the way we can all feel sometimes, regardless of gender or sexual preference. Just like Hedwig, my search for my other half goes on. Just like Hedwig, I have found my hope again.

Watch this film. Put aside preconceptions, and try something different. It might not change your life, but then again, who knows?

A great DVD of a truly great movie
This is an amazing movie. Having read some rave reviews, I dragged my boyfriend to see it and was slightly apalled for the first five minutes when it seemed to be a gritty docu-drama. Soon, however, it kicked into high gear with great songs, amazing performances, a witty script and some fantastic animation sequences (I'm in danger of running out of superlatives here).

Having seen it three times in the cinema, I was prepared for the DVD to seem a bit pale by comparison, and it is definitely better to see it on the big screen with an enthusiastic audience. However, the various extras on the DVD help to make up for the small-screen experience. The lengthy documentary, for example, is extremely watchable TV in its own right and offers the delights of hearing John Cameron Mitchell's conservative military family respond to their son's exotic career.

Buy it now! And then buy copies for all your friends!

So Much More Than The Sum Of Its Parts, Even When "All Sewn Up"
This movie is a musical, there is no denying that. It is an adaptation from an original off-broadway show which had some, but not great, critical success. Versions of it have been staged all over the world, albeit in small - sometimes amateur theatres. If muscials are your type of thing then great, but even if they aren't, this movie has so much more. It has a real heart.

If you are looking for a movie about decency, humour, love and sacrifice - then look no further. This movie has to be one of my favourites of all time. The songs in it are not just musical numbers. They move the piece forward and give us insight into Hedwig's past and present feelings. They stand extreamely well on their own, but when placed into this medium of a fantastic story, with brilliant performances and characters that you can relate and sympathise with - then they become small works of art that collectively fit together to make a masterpiece.

John Cameron Mitchel's performance and direction is nothing short of extraordinary. He manages, with what seems so little effort, to instantly make the audience connect with the character of Hedwig. Hedwig's story is in many ways tragic but she never loses her sense of humour, and John's timing is impeccable.

The performances from the supporting cast are strong even though their screen time is limited. It is very much Hedwig's story through narration to resolution. Nethertheless there isn't a weak moment from any of the cast - from the rock and roll opening, to the heart lifting and thought provoking finale.

This movie will be one you will want to watch again and again - always getting something new from it each time. I have watched it many times with new people and they have always really enjoyed the 2 hours or so - lost in the world of a drag queen.