Hedwig and the Angry Inch
By Kit Macdonald
Adapted from writer and star John Cameron Mitchell and songwriter Stephen Trask's off-Broadway stage show, Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001) is a beloved cult rock musical and confirmed queer film classic. The film follows Hedwig Robinson, an "internationally ignored" East German singer who undergoes a botched gender-affirming operation with the aim of marrying an American soldier and escaping to the United States. Stranded in a Kansas trailer park after the relationship collapses, Hedwig forms a band and begins touring dive bars, telling her life story through a mix of glam-rock anthems and confessional monologues.
The film blends high-camp humour, raw emotion and animated fantasy sequences. Central to the narrative is Hedwig’s relationship with Tommy Gnosis, a former protégé who becomes a famous rock star by stealing her songs. As Hedwig follows Tommy’s arena tour across the country, she confronts her own fractured sense of self, symbolised by the “angry inch” left from her surgery. Glam-rock, punks and cabaret traditions are mined in an exuberant tale that has stood the test of time.