THE ADVENTURES OF PRISCILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESERT (1994) **1/2
What is it with Australia and Abba, anyway? This film represents an
excellent point of entry for the uninitiated, into the glamorous
world of second-tier female impersonation. There's very little
explicit physical affection, and what little there is is balanced by
wholesome and morally unassailable brawling and profanity. Terrence
Stamp is, in fact, a man's...man's...transexual, able to drink anyone
in Australia (including a large, real woman) under the table, kick
anyone's ass, and keep most every little hair exactly in place
throughout it all. And what hair it is! Gloriously tacky, elegant,
vegetarian headgear and plumage appendages, like rays of the sun
seeking the exalted underworld of the edge of the stage. Australia
is shot wide open, it looks like fun riding atop the bus on gossamer
wings with opera blaring. The strange...strangest thing is that
despite it all not all that much happens: the protagonists
experience domestic difficulties, medical issues, career decisions,
cheap hotels, prejudice, insults, triumphs, hangovers, car
trouble...in fact most of it looks pretty boring. Which means that
they're...just like...everyone else? The line about cake is one of
the funniest in modern film history.
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