Posted: 08/07/2001

Hedwig and the Angry Inch

(2001)

by Hope Villanueva

“No, not the Angry Itch…the Angry INCH!”

In this case, the “inch” refers to a certain male organ. Or, we should say, a lack thereof. Hedwig and the Angry Inch takes some very unusual subject matter and, um… packages it in brightly-colored, blond-wigged glory. Already, Hedwig is being touted as the next Rocky Horror Picture Show, destined to gather a cult following, as has the Off-Broadway show from which it is adapted. While it does have the man-dressed-in-glam-drag bit, Hedwig does not play to the campy, overdone style of Rocky Horror. Rather, this film takes the honest emotions of an odd situation and makes of it humor and genuine drama.

Hedwig and the Angry Inch follows the story of an East Berlin teenager named Hansel (John Cameron Mitchell). Dreaming of a way out of Post-Cold War East Germany, Hansel listens to American radio, imitates glam rockers like Iggy Pop and David Bowie, and eventually falls in love with an American soldier. The soldier offers to marry Hansel and take him to America on one condition: He must leave “a little piece” of himself behind. Hansel agrees to the operation, thinking only of getting out of Germany. Because of a shady doctor, Hansel’s operation runs afoul, leaving him tottering confused on a line between man and woman, possessing the “angry inch” of the movie’s title. Shortly after arriving in America, the newly-named Hedwig is abandoned by her soldier in a Kansas trailer home as she watches the Berlin Wall crumble. With so little left of her life, Hedwig forms a band, The Angry Inch, and emulates the rockers she once worshipped. She meets with little success until she encounters Tommy (Michael Pitt of TV’s Dawson’s Creek), 17-year-old Jesus freak. As a result of their relationship, Tommy comes out of his religion-induced shell and becomes a guitarist and singer. He then runs off with the very songs he and Hedwig had written and becomes the new MTV icon, leaving Hedwig shadowing his tour, trying to get her share of the stardom she was cheated out of.

As the story of an aspiring rock goddess, Hedwig is told through a series of performances in a cruddy restaurant chain as the band follows Tommy’s tour around the country. I venture to use the “M” word: This is a musical. The music (by Stephen Trask, who also appears in the movie as a member of The Angry Inch) weaves in and out as both a storytelling mechanism and as plot vehicle and juggles smoothly between hard rock and sweeping ballad. “Origins of Love,” while accompanied by a strangely animated sequence, beautifully illustrates an alternate take on the idea of the soulmate in a myth claiming that we were all once four-armed, four-legged creatures whom the angry gods punished by severing down the middle. Another musical highlight is “Wig in a Box,” when Hedwig makes the move from trailer park divorcee to rock star. Pay attention to the lyrics and be ready to sing along when the bouncing wig appears over the subtitled lyrics. This is a tell-tale way to locate anyone familiar with the play—they will be bouncing their heads and singing along.

The real gem of the film, however, is John Cameron Mitchell’s performance as Hedwig. As the author of the script and the director of both the film and the stage show, it seems only fitting that Mitchell himself portrays the lady of his creation. What could have easily become a caricature of a down-on-her-luck drag queen is shaped with skill into a complete human being. Hedwig is bitter, with a wry, snapping wit that often sends her foes running, but she is capable of stillness and emotional intimacy that could warm even a Republican heart. And he can belt those rock songs with the best of them. Mitchell is supported by a talented cast, which includes many of the original members of the stage production. Particular stand-outs include Michael Pitt as Tommy Gnosis, the teen who steals Hedwig’s songs and heart, and an understated performance from Miriam Shor, as Hedwig’s current—through unappreciated—lover, who is obsessed with joining the cast of RENT (A show which also includes a drag queen…no coincidence, I’m sure). As convincing as Mitchell is as a woman, Shor is twice as convincing as a drag king, facial hair and all.

Hedwig received several honors at the last Sundance Film Festival in Colorado and rightfully so. It takes edgy material, along with the recently revived form of the movie musical, and crafts an interesting and joyous film. At its heart, Hedwig and the Angry Inch is about the acceptance of one’s self at the moments when self-identification is near impossible. Hedwig says of her deformity, “It’s what I have to work with.” Isn’t that all anyone has?

Hope Villanueva is a director and playwright living in Los Angeles.

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