Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Hedwig and the Angry Inch
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1h 31m
Directed by John Cameron Mitchell • 2001 • United States
Starring John Cameron Mitchell, Andrea Martin, Michael Pitt
With this trailblazing musical, writer-director-star John Cameron Mitchell and composer-lyricist Stephen Trask brought their signature creation from stage to screen for a movie as unclassifiable as its protagonist. Raised a boy in East Berlin, Hedwig (Mitchell) undergoes a traumatic personal transformation in order to emigrate to the U.S., where she reinvents herself as an “internationally ignored” but divinely talented rock diva, characterized by Mitchell as inhabiting a “beautiful gender of one.” The film tells Hedwig’s story through her music, an eclectic assortment of original punk anthems and power ballads by Trask, matching them with a freewheeling cinematic mosaic of music-video fantasies, animated interludes, and moments of bracing emotional realism. A hard-charging song cycle and a tender character study, HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH is a tribute to the transcendent power of rock and roll.
Up Next in Hedwig and the Angry Inch
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HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH Commentary
This commentary, recorded in 2001, features actor-director John Cameron Mitchell and director of photography Frank G. DeMarco. The two discuss all aspects of the film’s shoot, from color tests and staging to lighting and design.
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A "Hedwig" Reunion
This program, produced in February 2019, brings together many of the key collaborators on HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH, including actor-director John Cameron Mitchell, director of photography Frank G. DeMarco, composer-lyricist Stephen Trask, hairstylist-makeup artist Mike Potter, animator Emily Hub...
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The Music of "Hedwig"
Music critic David Fricke first wrote about HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH after seeing the off-Broadway production at New York’s Jane Street Theatre in 1998. In this program, recorded in February 2019, Fricke talks to composer-lyricist Stephen Trask about Trask’s band Cheater, how the band influenced...