A classic Australian film. Watching The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert made me quite nostalgic and brought back memories of Australian films from the 1980s and 1990s. Priscilla is one of those films that has an original formula which works: it’s entertaining, quirky, touching and clever. To have all of those elements in a film is a rare and difficult achievement.
The film features some great Australian talents, who have now made their name on the world stage, particularly Hugo Weaving and Guy Pearce. I loved both of their characters, who both had quite different outlooks on life and personalities. Priscilla is essentially a road trip movie − it centres on three drag queens who travel across the Australian desert to do a show in Alice Springs. The show is organised by the wife of one of the drag queens, “Mizti” (Hugo Weaving), which makes relations between the characters a lot more complex and interesting. In addition, Mizti and his wife also have a child and I think what this film does really well is highlight the complicated nature of human relationships. Sexuality is not clear-cut as we have a drag queen who is married with a child, as well as heterosexual transsexual. We see Hugo Weaving’s character is reluctant to have his son see him performing but is relieved when his son surprisingly shows an active interest in what his father does, even requested a performance of ABBA. In other instances, we see the drag queens abused both verbally and physically in some of the more conservative country towns. So rather than stereotyping, the film brings these more non-mainstream themes of sexuality, identity and acceptance to the mainstream audience in a more light-hearted way. So while you may not expect it, the film really does have some substance. The movie touches on some big issues, and instead of being a one-dimensional comedy flick, it also has some quite poignant moments, including Hugo Weaving’s character struggling with his role as a father, to a more disturbing flashback of one of the characters with his paedophile uncle.I should also point out there was some controversy about the racist and sexist stereotyping of Cynthia, who is a Filipino wife in the film. Personally, I saw her character solely as a comical role in the film, and for a film that aims to strive away from sexual stereotypes, to be accused of racial stereotypes is quite ironic I guess. If anything, I would say the film stereotypes Australians − the scenes in outback pubs with heavy-drinking, crude and intolerant men (and rough, muscled women) is enough to put anyone off travelling in the desert! Although, the beautiful landscape is enough to convince me otherwise.
Also, the fashion and costumes in the film were incredible − not surprisingly, Priscilla won an Oscar for Best Costume Design. The costumes could easily be the inspiration for Lady Gaga’s clothes − a dress made from thongs, bright, colourful “out there” numbers simply looking to draw attention. My favourite moments were when these characters were all glammed up, whether it was in a silver outfit, sitting in a giant stiletto on the top of the tour bus, dressed in costumes made from flowers while singing with Aboriginals, or on stage dressed as the Sydney Opera House.
At the beginning of the film, three things struck me immediately: the raw language and swearing, the Australian accent (a rarity in films) and the music, which consisted of a range of famous pop songs from various decades. From the start, you can feel that this is going to be a film that is very different from most of what you have seen before. Sprinkled with comedy as well as more dramatic moments, this is a film that appeals (or not) to people in different ways. Nevertheless, I think it’s worthwhile watching what is an iconic movie that helped bring Australian film to the world stage.
4/5
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