Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2000) - Synopsis
Adapted from the critically acclaimed off-Broadway rock theatre hit, Hedwig and The Angry Inch tells the story of an 'internationally ignored' rock singer, Hedwig, and her search for stardom and love.
Born a boy named Hansel whose life's dream is to find his other half, Hedwig reluctantly submits to a sex change operation in order to marry an American G. I. and get over the Berlin Wall to freedom. The operation is botched, leaving her with the aforementioned 'angry inch'. Finding herself high, dry and divorced in a Kansas trailer park, she pushes on to form a rock band and encounters a lover/protégé in young Tommy Gnosis, who eventually leaves her, steals her songs and becomes a huge rock star.
A bitter yet witty Hedwig with her pan-Slavic band, The Angry Inch, shadows Tommy's stadium tour, performing in near-empty restaurants for bewildered diners and a few die-hard fans. Through a collage of songs, flashbacks and animation, Hedwig tells her life story while on a tour of chain strip-mall seafood restaurants, trying to capitalize on her tabloid celebrity as the supposed ex-lover of famed rock star, Tommy Gnosis. Somewhere between the crab cakes and the cramped motel rooms, between the anguish and the acid-wash, she pursues her dreams and discovers the origin of love.
Hedwig and The Angry Inch marks the directorial debut of John Cameron Mitchell, who along with composer/lyricist Stephen Trask, created and starred in the critically acclaimed off-Broadway production. The film is produced by Christine Vachon, Pamela Koffler and Katie Roumel for Killer Films.
Mitchell is joined behind the camera by a cutting-edge production team; which includes director of photography Frank DeMarco; production designer Thérèse DePrez; costume designer Arianne Phillips; wig and make-up designer Mike Potter; animator Emily Hubley; editor Andrew Marcus; and Trask, who produced fresh recordings of Hedwig's songs, new songs, and an instrumental score.
Hedwig and The Angry Inch is a Killer Films production, distributed by Entertainment Film Distributors.
