Ryan McNeil
If I hadn’t seen this movie before, its opening – featuring a drag queen doing a lip synch performance – might lead me to believe I’d cued up another David Lynch movie. But nay, this is the most fitting intro possible for the celebration of all things outlandish. I give you THE ADVENTURES OF PRISCILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESERT…the next movie up in the 1001 Series.
Our story stars Terrance Stamp, Hugo Weaving, and Guy Pearce as Ralph, Anthony, and Adam. However, you’ll seldom hear these three headliners addressed so common. To the masses they are Bernadette, Tick, and Felicia, some of the best lip synching drag queens in all of Sydney. When Tick’s ex-wife asks him to come perform at her hotel in the middle of nowhere, he manages to convince Bernadette and Felicia to come along with. Travelling in style is a must though, thus they pile every feather, heel and sequin they can into a Ford Denning bus – a chariot they dub “Priscilla”.
What ensues is a classic road movie; filled with self-discovery, growth of character, and disco. Lots and lots of disco. It all actually combines to turn into a rather epic spectacle. A good chunk of the film is spent in the Australian Outback, during which the ladies take every opportunity they can to rehearse and perform. In an unexpected way, it is very much about being at one with the earth. Felicia takes advantage of this the most, partaking in one of the film’s most iconic moments – lip synching to La Traviata.
His commitment to the moment, and the way his extravagantly long costume billows behind the bus allows him to become a sensational part of the environment, rather than just watching it go by. Of course, such a connection between the earth and the individual were a catalyst for Felicia going along. It’s his dream to scale King’s Ayer’s Rock, in full drag and look out over the wilderness. Of course, he sees the grandeur of such a moment, where bernadette can only prod him by declaring such a goal as “A cock, in a frock, on a rock.”
While PRISCILLA is very much about being proud of who you are, it also has moments of being a dark fable. Our heroes have no reservation about walking the strip of small town in full drag, inspiring as much shock and awe as you would expect. However, every time they do so, they court more than just insults. They tempt true hate, and even violence. It’s a sad revelation just how much protection their home community affords them…protection that can’t always be won over by a top notch staging of “I Will Survive”.
Still, these dangers can’t take away from the core message; PRISCILLA is all about being an individual, and being able to count on the ones you love. Very little of what these three men do is something that must be done. However, if any of them were to say “no” to the various things they are asked, they would be letting those closest to them down. PRISCILLA wants us to remember that while you might be able to wow a crowd with your ABBA routine, if you can’t be there for your friends and family, you’ll never be a true headliner.
But Ryan, Is It List-Worthy?… Once again, this is more cult-classic than film-lit classic. Watching drag queens work their wigs and wield their wings might not be your style. Indeed to be fair, it’s a bit jarring to watch General Zod, Agent Smith, and Leonard Shelby go full drag. Then again, this movie is worth a look just for the ping-pong ball trick alone.
I got my copy of this on the way, it sounds like it'll be entertaining, if nothing else. Though I'm not sure if my brain will be able to calculate Hugo Weaving in drag… I think an overload may occur.
I really love this movie! Its one of these movies I can watch all the time and it just makes me happy. That picture of the drag on the bus is amazing! It is mainly pure entertainment but does everything always have to be "serious"? I don't think so…
I had no idea, Im going to rent this as soon as possible! Outlandish movies is what I live for! Thanks for the review!
Plus comparing it to a Lynch movie just grabbed me. Thanks again!
@ Univarn… I kept waiting for Hugo to hit us with a "MIS-ter Ander-sonnnnn". It's sublime, can't wait to read your thoughts.
@ Vanessa… The movie has lots of moments of seriousness, but surrounding it with so much spectacle turns it into something so much more memorable.
@ TFC… It's a throw-a-way moment of Lynch-ness, hope I haven't been too misleading by mentioning it.
One other thought I didn't really get to in the body of my piece is that it's the third part of the Oz Tilogy that we got in the early 90's: it goes hand-in-hand with STRICTLY BALLROOM and MURIEL'S WEDDING. If you dug those, you're likely to dig this.
This is one of my favourite movies of all time ~ Can't wait for the stage production to hit Toronto!!!!
Another Ausie great … Danny Deckchair.
You can borrow it if you haven't already seen it 😉
The recurring La Traviata scenes are one of the best parts about this movie. Although, I don't understand why everyone dismisses the serious parts of this movie. There are some pretty intense issues brought up underneath all the glam. Cult classics are awesome like that.
Great review!
It's funny how you lump STRICTLY BALLROOM in with PRISCILLA and MURIEL, considering BALLROOM is a part of Baz Luhrman's trilogy with ROMEO+JULIET and MOULIN ROUGE.
Can one movie be part of two different trilogies?
@ Danger… Oughta be a cool show! I've long wanted to watch DANNY DECKCHAIR, so when I have a little bit less in the 'to-watch' pile, I'll take you up on that offer.
@ Mistress… Indeed – notice how I don't praise this film as an absolute delight of all things outlandish (even though much of it is)…it was those many moments of heavy introspection that made the movie for me…How each of the three go through a lot of self-discovery on the trip. It was like "On The Road"…but with feather boas.
@ Cheshire… Yes, a movie can in fact be part of two trilogies at the same time, since one of the two was intentional and one was co-incidental.