Review of The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert

In the wood known as Holly, the comedy genre has by far flirted with other genres the most. The word "comedy" has nowadays - or at least to me - become a very feared prefix; comedy-horror, comedy-drama, comedy-war etc... From the comedy field, I've found many to be worthless, not the least bit amusing, and downright either pretentious or ugly - with such examples like poking fun of someone "erratic", a religion, a nationality, an accent, or the dude who just walks teensy bit funny, resulting in 99% of unfunny gags, offensive moments and just downright stupidity. For the sake of this (argument?), I will rule out parody / spoof movies, so no Mel Brooks reference here. Or ZAZ. By comedy I'm taking examples from all decades. The old comedies may seem innocent, smart and witty, but there's a lot of (at least in some of them) offensive material going around. From the late 70's to mid-80's onward, the word comedy apparently means barfing in the other guy's meal, spitting at his face, yo mamma jokes, vulgar script with a mind of a zombie (so basically, mindless), and thinking that Ben Stiller or Adam Sandler can make a movie funny by just showing their faces - or in the case of the latter, dressing up as a woman. It's funny that a large number of members here like them for their serious, dramatic role(s). Something I think most of the world thinks, too. When will Hollywood wake up to this fact, I'll never know.

Anyway, why did I bring up this issue? Because Priscilla is sans all that. Priscilla is a great - no, scratch that - classic comedy-drama that excels in both of the fields either side of the hyphen, first making your eyes tear with laughter and then with (wo)manly emotional scenes, that will not necessarily make you cry a la Terms of Endearment mode but in a Dan in Real Life or Adaptation manner. Two drag queens and a transsexual (actors names in a moment) start their journey from Sydney to Alice Springs to do a show, only to get lost in the desert along the way. This is where their troubles start and where our laughter doesn't stop. Three neither larger or smaller than life characters spend the rest of the film - or at least the scenes in the desert and the hotel - bickering, arguing, drag-dancing, discussing ABBA, and swearing in such a fashion that puts Withnail & I and Goodfellas back by decades. The main story is simple and highly entertaining. The trio meet a host of equally colourful characters along the way and, whether they become friends or enemies, the trio blend in easily and constantly remind us of the fact that they indeed are the show-stealers of the film. Putting the positivity or the negativity of the characters (all of them) aside, I think the main spotlight of the film was not on the characters and how / who they were: I think it was on what and why they were like that. One is shown bored, one enthusiastic and one anxious. Instead of making them the butt of each and every joke, the script-writers made them tough and, to a certain-point level, quite affable and charming. The characters were full of individuality, invincibility and at the same time, vulnerability - akin to the major boss enemy at the end of a game or a level / stage. In conclusion, the story, the script, the set-up - everything was enjoyable and original. I've never laughed this hard at the pitch-perfect line delivery, the correct swear word(s) at the right moment, and the hilarious performances by the trio. And it's funny because I've never enjoyed films like these before. Ever.

Terence Stamp stole the spotlight. He stole each and every inch of it. To say he was out-staged or out-performed by any other would be akin to saying that N Dappy is better in fighting than Shang Tsung. He provided strong shoulders to the film. Also, his line delivery was pitch perfect. It was so perfect that even in the simplest of the words, he provided a lot of (reluctant) hilarity and strong soul to character. Hugo Weaving has, from the last 10 years, become a strong example of a great, flawless actor. Seeing him in the film that shot him to stardom was something exciting. He provided a lot of rib-tickling hilarity and open-mouthed dramatic turns that if you are a long time appreciator of his performances, will have you add another of his great performance in your mind, or if you not then will have you become an appreciator. He definitely was awesome in his role. Guy Pearce to me is one of the coolest actors in active right now. Cool through Memento and L.A. Confidential. His role as Adam/Felicia was the most energetic, full of lively enthusiasm and rich in presentation. Sort of like all clowns in a carnival combined in one energetic character. It's hard to accept the fact that both Weaving and Pearce went on to play serious, humour-less characters such as Agent Smith and Leonard Shelby, when both started out as just the opposite!

By the time the film ends, you will have want the Sex, Drugs & Rock 'n Roll archetype to be replaced by Tranny, Drags & ABBA.

8.5/10