When I first read the premise of Priscilla, I thought is was going to be just like To Wong Foo, Thank you Julie Newmar. Well, both movies have men who are normally action movie stars playing drag queens driving across country on a road trip. but that is where the similarities end. This movie is a comedy-drama-musical. It is based on a stage play of the same name. Priscilla was written and directed by Stephen Elliott. Hugo Weaving ( Agent Smith from the Matrix movies) played Anthony Belrose "Tick"/ Mitzi Del Bra a female impersonator who gets a mysterious phone call (mysterious to the viewer) that sends him and his two friends on a journey across the desert to the Northern Territory. Terrance Stamp played Bernadette, a transsexual woman who's partner just died. And Guy Pearce played Adam Whitely aka Felicia Jollygoodfellow, who had his mother buy the tour bus for him so they could go on their trip. He christened the bus Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.
Tick gets a phone call for a job in the Northern Territory and asked his two friends to go with him to do the show. They take Priscilla for the road trip and have some interesting encounters along the way. They encounter homophobic people in a small town that paint an obscene suggestion on the side of the bus.There is a giant stiletto shoe tied to the roof of the bus, a visual trope used a few times in the film is Felicia sitting in the top of the shoe with about twenty yards if lame fabric billowing behind the bus with classical music playing. Along the way they decide to take a "short cut" through the desert and take a wrong turn. The bus breaks down and they are stranded. While Bernadette attempts to go find help, Adam paints the bus lavender to cover up the profanity with paint he bought at the last gas station. Bernadette found a ride , but when the old couple saw the other "girls", they dropped off Bernadette and pealed out, leaving them still stranded. So, they decided to use this time to rehearse their act. We also find out that the woman who hired them is Tick's wife. A bomb shell of news for the others.
When they finally get there, we also learn that Tick has a son. His wife wants a vacation so she wants Tick to take their son back to Sidney with him. Tick is unsure because of his lifestyle, and he does not want to be embarrassing for his son.
I won't give the whole ending away. I really enjoyed this film, as a mater of fact I bought it so I can watch it any time. The musical numbers were fun to watch and the lip sinking was well done. I loved the characters and the character development in the film. The scenery in the desert was beautiful. The story dealt with prejudice against gays in a direct and humorous manner at times. The costumes were amazing. I would give this movie 5 stars.
This movie had a $2,000,000 budget for production according to Wikipedia and earned $29,679.915 world wide. The Broadway musical is going to be touring soon. Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 93% fresh rating.
Tick gets a phone call for a job in the Northern Territory and asked his two friends to go with him to do the show. They take Priscilla for the road trip and have some interesting encounters along the way. They encounter homophobic people in a small town that paint an obscene suggestion on the side of the bus.There is a giant stiletto shoe tied to the roof of the bus, a visual trope used a few times in the film is Felicia sitting in the top of the shoe with about twenty yards if lame fabric billowing behind the bus with classical music playing. Along the way they decide to take a "short cut" through the desert and take a wrong turn. The bus breaks down and they are stranded. While Bernadette attempts to go find help, Adam paints the bus lavender to cover up the profanity with paint he bought at the last gas station. Bernadette found a ride , but when the old couple saw the other "girls", they dropped off Bernadette and pealed out, leaving them still stranded. So, they decided to use this time to rehearse their act. We also find out that the woman who hired them is Tick's wife. A bomb shell of news for the others.
While rehearsing, an Aborigines man is watching them and invites them to a party in the desert. The people at the party share different types of entertainment and music, so Tick, Adam, and Bernadette decide to share a number with them. Here is a clip.
Their new friends took them to a small town to meet Bob the mechanic who has a wife with a special talent that Bob is not pleased for her to show off in public. He gets the "girls" to perform at the local pub, and after an eventful evening fixes the bus and decides to go along the rest of the way in case the bus breaks down again.When they finally get there, we also learn that Tick has a son. His wife wants a vacation so she wants Tick to take their son back to Sidney with him. Tick is unsure because of his lifestyle, and he does not want to be embarrassing for his son.
I won't give the whole ending away. I really enjoyed this film, as a mater of fact I bought it so I can watch it any time. The musical numbers were fun to watch and the lip sinking was well done. I loved the characters and the character development in the film. The scenery in the desert was beautiful. The story dealt with prejudice against gays in a direct and humorous manner at times. The costumes were amazing. I would give this movie 5 stars.
This movie had a $2,000,000 budget for production according to Wikipedia and earned $29,679.915 world wide. The Broadway musical is going to be touring soon. Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 93% fresh rating.
I actually found this film pretty hard to watch. I think a lot of it had to do with the constant ABBA music and flamboyancy of the characters, which kind of annoyed me because I know a good amount of homosexuals and none of them act like that at all. That being said, I did a little research on the film to help me understand it more and apparently there are quite a few Australian comedies that use these same elements to help promote the gay rights movement that swept Australia. Here is a website that talks specifically about the director's goals for this movie: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/priscilla-director-calls-on-celebrities-not-canberra-for-marriage-equality-20120119-1q8np.html.
After reading this article it helped me understand that this was and still is an important movie for Australia and the gay community. (There are even Broadway shows of this movie now!) It helped bring this community into the light in a positive way. I can appreciate the film because of this, but it's still not my taste as far as comedies go.
I tried to read the article that you listed Bethany, but it was unavailable. I thought that the film was interesting, it was weird to see these masculine men that I have watched in other films portray these drag queens. Knowing that the director had intentions of helping to bring a positive light among the gay community helps me to understand why the film was made. It shows how these people are seen by the outside communities both positive and negative. It also shows how the people of the gay community should fell empowered to do or be anything they want.
Hmm...I wonder why it wasn't working for you? Maybe try it without that last period.