The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994)

I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

Truly Dreadful Film

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Well, what can one say about 'Priscilla'? In it's own way, perhaps even more outrageous than 'Rocky Horror' which preceded it by a couple of decades. Even if one were to be put off by the alternative life style, the film is worth watching just for the garish outfits (Oscar Winner for Best Costume Design) and the unpredictable performances. The 'I Will Survive' number just about knocked me out of my chair, and the Australian Outback setting offers a glimpse of a 'Kangaroo Crossing' sign that made total sense in a picture full of nonsense and decadent fun. I had to laugh when the breakfast cereal of choice during one of the morning stops happened to be Froot Loops; obviously the film makers were not too concerned with political correctness, nor how could they be to even come up with this concept. With key roles in films like "The Matrix" and the Hobbit movies, one of the last actors I would have expected to see in this picture was Hugo Weaving, dragging it up in all his colorful glory. Along side the likes of Terrence Stamp and Guy Pearce, the unlikely trio sends up the gay/transsexual/transgender genre in a way that comes along maybe once a generation. The only possible comment I might make otherwise for this outrageous story might be - Where was Tim Curry when you needed him?

Revisiting this 90s flamboyant drag cult made from Down Under, a trio of drag performers, two drag queens, Mitzi (Weaving) and Felicia (Pearce) and a trans-woman Bernadette (Stamp), embarks on a road trip on their titularly coined bus, from Sydney to the outback to perform their routines, en route, they meet multifarious people (whose reaction ranging from beneficent, gobsmacked, impassive, miffed to violent, and the juxtaposition between the aborigine and the white hicks is piercingly sharp) and each has his/her own generational revelation to cope with by the time their four-week-stint ends.Felicia, a sassy whippersnapper played by a sinewy Guy Pearce in his breaking-out cinema role, who constantly squabbles with Bernadette and has to learn his lesson in a hard way after he has a narrow escape from hate-crime induced mutilation, and Pearce is barnstorming to a fault, as if he is too self-aware of his orthodox masculine appearance, which he compensates with a patina of overlown effeminate affectation and posturing that runs to distracting, as we know that queer and masculine don't necessarily exclude each other, perceivably, he is the weakest link in the fold.Hugo Weaving's Mitzi, acting more natural in his persona's stage/private distinction, carries a more weighty responsibility when we realize he is married to a woman and they have an eight-year-old son Benji (Holmes), the burden of guilt and shame is what weighs down on every nonconformist being's soul, his tentative attempt to reconnect with Benj engages with a tender vulnerability that precariously avoids becoming saccharine, which says a lot about the performer's emotive strength. Nevertheless, the best performance unequivocally comes from Terence Stamp, whose Bernadette is long in the tooth, but she proves that wisdom, dignity and snide quips are amassed through years of hardened self-preservation against side-eyes and brandishing fists, Stamp embodies her with superlative poise larded with subtle cynicism and utter phlegm, which makes Bernadette's romantic kindling with a rough diamond Bob (Hunter) more like an unexpected boon than a hackneyed plot maneuver. The show must go on, and for a drag troupe of three, lip-syncing of queer-friendly iconic hits (Charlene's I'VE NEVER BEEN ME is an infectious show opener, which would be dusted off in Lynne Ramsay's YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE 2017, and rendered an idiosyncratically poignant effect) is just a one trick pony doesn't offer much variations, so their pageantry lives and dies with its gaudy, zany, eye-popping, varicolored, Oscar-winning apparel, particularly when being put into use against the vast topography in the middle of nowhere, and the crowning moment on the top of King's canyon, that majesty feeling of being unique in a cosmic world is so refreshing and life-affirming. Lastly, one cannot stress this enough, it is an unqualified relief that director/writer Stephan Elliott sticks to his guns with a less dramatic leitmotif to anchor his tragedy-prone subject matter in the most gracious way one can probably conceive, PRISCILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESERT is truly, a hoot and a half.

Available on Blu-ray Disc (Region B)Australia 1994 English (Colour); Comedy/Drama/Musical/LGBTQ (PolyGram/Australian Film/Latent Image/Specific); 103 minutes (15 certificate)Crew includes: Stephan Elliott (Director/Screenwriter); Al Clark, Michael Hamlyn (Producers); Rebel Penfold-Russell (Executive Producer); Brian J. Breheny (Cinematographer); Owen Paterson (Production Designer); Sue Blainey (Editor); Guy Gross (Composer)Cast includes: Terence Stamp (Bernadette Bassenger), Hugo Weaving (Anthony "Tick" Belrose/Mitzi Del Bra), Guy Pearce (Adam Whitely/Felicia Jollygoodfellow), Bill Hunter (Bob), Julia Cortez (Cynthia), Sarah Chadwick (Marion Barber), Mark Holmes (Benjamin Barber)Academy Award: Costume Design (Lizzy Gardiner, Tim Chappel); BAFTA Awards (2): Costume Design (Gardiner, Chappel), Makeup/Hair; BAFTA nominations (5): Actor (Stamp), Original Screenplay, Cinematography, Production Design, Film Music; Golden Globe nominations (2): Picture - Musical/Comedy, Actor - Musical/Comedy (Stamp)"Finally, a comedy that will change the way you think, the way you feel, and most importantly... the way you dress."Two female impersonators (Weaving, Pearce) and a recently bereaved transsexual (Stamp) travel halfway across Australia on board a dilapidated bus christened "Priscilla," to perform their cabaret act at a remote casino, encountering absurd situations and individuals almost as nonconformist as they are.Stamp is amazing and totally credible in his quietly dignified transgender portrayal, as are Weaving and (especially) Pearce as "her" flamboyant, lip-synching (to a marvellously camp soundtrack featuring ABBA, Gloria Gaynor, Village People et al) drag queen companions.The gaudy, outrageous (and cheap) costumes won a well-deserved Oscar, and the photography of the barren, surreal landscape is masterful, as is Elliott's creative direction and hilarious, ultimately poignant script.Blu-ray Extras: Commentary, Documentary, Deleted Scenes, Interviews, Bloopers, Trailers. ***½ (7/10)

Ralph Waite aka Bernadette Bassenger (Terence Stamp) suffered a friend's death and agrees to go with Tick Belrose aka Mitzi Del Bra (Hugo Weaving) to perform in Alice Springs, a desert resort town in the middle of Australia. Adam Whitely aka Felicia Jollygoodfellow (Guy Pearce) is eager to join and buys a touring bus christening her Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.This has some fun comedic touches. However the trick of this movie is that the guys don't play it too broadly. Stamp and Weaving are actually playing it reserved. They are more wore-down middle age men than flamboyant gays. Guy Pearce is the only one playing it somewhat broadly. The costumes are great ridiculousness. The movie is full of big laughs and also a touching character study.