Two drag queens (Guy Pearce as bitchy Felicia, and Hugo Weaving as Mitzi) and a transsexual (Terence Stamp, marvellous as the widowed Bernadette) make a trip to Alice Springs in a pink bus called Priscilla.
Cue a soundtrack of mostly Abba songs (plus an off-the-cuff 'I Will Survive', and C E Peniston's 'Finally' - a great set-piece) and three towering performances. From the initial hilarious premise we follow the trio through the Australian desert and meet the various inhabitants of places they pass through. It remains fast-paced and touching within the comedy. Wonderful.
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
1994
Action / Comedy / Music
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
1994
Action / Comedy / Music
Plot summary
Two drag-queens (Anthony/Mitzi and Adam/Felicia) and a transgender woman contract to perform a drag show at a resort in Alice Springs, a resort town in the remote Australian desert. They head west from Sydney aboard their lavender bus, Priscilla. En route, it is discovered that the woman they've contracted with is Anthony's wife. Their bus breaks down, and is repaired by Bob, who travels on with them.
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finally ...
Thoroughly Entertaining...
All three leading ladies and their performances are outstanding. The story is very amusing, quite often hilarious but also grounded with the prejudices they encounter on their journey. If you need something to put a smile on your face, to put in perspective your own dilemmas, to distract you from the humdrum of daily life, then jump on Priscilla and let the girls keep you thoroughly entertained.
"Is it true when you were born the doctor turned around and slapped your mother?"
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?