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The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994) More at IMDbPro »

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120 comments in total

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73 out of 79 people found the following comment useful :-
A Weaving Pearce Stamp For Collectors, 3 February 2005

Author: marcosaguado from Los Angeles, USA

What unlikely trio to fall in love with, just as unlikely as the landscape. When a movie fits so well without a tag that links it to anything else in its historic film context, it can only be described as a happy accident. Premeditated for sure, but accident nonetheless. Terence Stamp, is an actor with a spectacular career. Varied and surprising. It defies description, but let me try. Peter Ustinov's "Billy Budd" William Wyler's "The Collector" Federico Fellini's "Spirit of the Dead" John Schlesinger's "Far From The Madding Crowd" Pier Paolo Pasolini's "Teorema" Joseph Losey's "Modesty Blaise" Oliver Stone's "Wall Street" Stephen Frear's "The Hit" Richard Donner's "Superman" "Steven Sodebergh's "The Limey" Am I making my point? He is an actor for all seasons, beautiful beyond belief to boot. In "The Adventures of Pricilla Queen of The Desert" he unveils another unexpected side to his considerable talents. A Woman. And what a woman, a Meryl Streep with a past and, thanks to director Stephan Elliot, with a future. Dressed by geniuses. More human than ever. He is flanked by two spectacular Aussies. Hugo Weaving (The Matrix) giving a performance of such tenderness that even my brother in law, a homophobic macho man of the first order,loved him. And Guy Pearce (L A Confidential) He is such a beautiful,sexy, funny girl that made me long for a her/he all to myself. Some other monstrously cloned movies were rushed into production trying to capitalize on the success of Pricilla. They all failed miserably and rightly so. Frank Capra, accepting his AFI Lifetime Achievement Award sent a profound and heartfelt advise to young filmmakers. "Don't follow trends, start new ones" Well done Mr Elliot. Well done.

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56 out of 66 people found the following comment useful :-
A bitchy, gaudy, outrageous, kitsch comedy classic (8/10), 14 February 2001

Author: Paul Kydd (Paul.Kydd@btinternet.com) from Edinburgh, Scotland

1994 proved to be rather a good year for Australian movies, with both this and MURIEL'S WEDDING delighting international audiences with their cheeky over-the-top humour, panache, pathos, winning performances, and fun soundtracks. Both, of course, heavily featured the music of ABBA (Australia has long had a particular love-affair with the Scandinavian quartet - it was probably no coincidence that it was decided to shoot the group's own feature, ABBA: THE MOVIE, during the Australian leg of their 1977 world concert tour). In MURIEL'S WEDDING the band's music is perhaps treated with more reverence and respect - Muriel Heslop is, after all, a huge fan, and the film itself is of a far more serious, distinctly black nature. PRISCILLA, on the other hand, constantly revels in its own bitchiness and catty humour, and has countless memorable, and in many cases unprintable, lines of dialogue, including stabs at the supergroup - "I've said it once and I'll say it again - no more f***ing ABBA"; "What are you telling me - this is an ABBA turd?" Of course ABBA is merely one of MANY verbal targets for the film's three main protagonists, but far from this alienating us from any of them, we cannot help but be swept along by the sheer garish joy of the entire venture.

The basic plot focuses on recently bereaved transsexual Bernadette (a magnificent, hardly recognizable Terence Stamp), who teams up with two younger drag artistes, sensitive Tick/Mitzi (Hugo Weaving) and screaming queen Adam/Felicia (Guy Pearce), so that they can travel half-way across Australia on board an all but dilapidated bus named "Priscilla", in order to perform a cabaret act at a remote casino run by an ex-partner of Tick's, soon revealed to be, horror of horrors, a WOMAN! Along the way they encounter all sorts of absurd situations and individuals almost as strange and unconventional as they themselves are, whilst Bernadette, against her better judgement, falls for gruff mechanic Bob (Bill Hunter, who also features in MURIEL'S WEDDING) that they pick up en route, and in so doing he loses his "mail-order" bride Cynthia (Julia Cortez), who in one especially memorable scene does things with ping-pong balls you just don't want to imagine!

The performances are really the thing here - Terence Stamp (who won numerous accolades for his cast-against-type labours) is amazing and totally credible as the quietly dignified transsexual, and it is hard to believe that Weaving and (especially) Pearce have not worked as flamboyant, lip-synching drag queens all their professional lives! The gaudy, outrageous costumes won a well-deserved Oscar, and the photography of the barren, surreal landscape is also masterful, as is Stephan Elliott's creative direction and hilarious, ultimately poignant script. The soundtrack may not be to everyone's taste, but it has enough camp classics to satisfy anyone yearning to relive the tacky heyday of the '70s - including ABBA's "Mamma Mia", the Village People's "Go West", and Gloria Gaynor's superb "I Will Survive", given a gloriously inventive rendition to a bunch of appreciative aboriginals, with one of their number joining in most enthusiastically.

A true kitsch classic, then - well worth re-visiting, again and again ... and again.

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36 out of 42 people found the following comment useful :-
I'll never look at those three guys the same way again..., 13 August 2003
Author: quixoboy from Ottawa, Ontario

...and that's a GOOD thing. Basically, before I truly became aware of "Priscilla", I had only thought of its three central actors as just regular, boring guys who were fine enough at acting, but really weren't anything special. Wrong. I had heard about this mysterious movie once or twice, but had no idea who was in it, nor what it was about (beyond the rather vague concept of drag queens/transvestites), and when I decided to read more about it, and find out who was in the cast - SURPRISE! Guy Pearce (of whom I had had a bad first impression when I discovered him in that travesty "The Time Machine"), Hugo Weaving (Agent Smith himself!!!), and Terence Stamp (whom I don't think I ever saw in any films, but whom I still knew a fair bit about)! How genius is that? I had to see this to believe it, and when I did, I was not let down! Beautiful scenes, costumes, dialogue and music made this probably one of the most interesting and memorable movie experiences of my life! I wasn't the least bit uptight about it (as some people were turned off by the flamboyant behaviour and distasteful jokes, which I found refreshingly great!), and delighted in the campy antics of this fantastic trio! It's a beautiful, feel-good comedy that I recommend to anyone with a catty sense of humour (and a VERY open mind).

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38 out of 47 people found the following comment useful :-
A Movie You Can Watch Over and Over, 17 December 2003

Author: rdpepper from USA

This is a great movie! Not only are the actors wonderful but the dialogue keeps you watching the movie over and over again because you missed a great line the last time! The musical numbers are worth watching alone, but combined with the story and all the sub-plots and the funniest lines I have heard in a long time (The ABBA turd convo cracks me up every time), this is a movie to buy and watch over and over when you need to be entertained as well as dazzled!!!!!!!

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38 out of 48 people found the following comment useful :-
One of the best "queer" movies ever!!, 24 November 2004

Author: René (rfak) from Vienna, Austria

There are not many movies who deal with gays and drag queens in a normal and sympathetic way, too often they are just shown as stereotypes. This film is a wonderful exception.

It follows two gays and a transsexual who drive through the Australian desert to Alice Springs, where they have a gig in a hotel. We see them collide with small town citizens, aborigines and tourists and in the end the characters are dear to us!

The three principal actors are all straight, but are able to create sympathetic, three-dimensional gay characters. It deserves also special mention, that these characters (unlike most gay parts in Hollywood pictures) do have a sex life and sexual wishes (probably Hollywood deems this as too disturbing for a straight audience).

Hugo Weaving (better known for "Matrix" and "The Lord of the Rings") plays the most "straight" part, Tick, who has a ex-wife (who herself is bisexual) and a little son. Wonderfully acted are his fears of his son and heartbreaking the scene where he is confronted by prejudices by his fellow performers. Yes, gays are no angels, and this movie is brave enough to say so.

Guy Pearce as Adam is probably the most "gay" in this, presenting most of the well known clichès, but he still brings enormous depth and insight in a part, that actors with lesser gifts would have played simply as another sissy.

But outshining both of them and all others is Terence Stamp (yes, I do mean HIM!) as the transsexual Bernadette. Played with dignity and a great sense of humor, he/she is absolutely believable and his love story with a mechanic is wonderfully touching!

As I performed once myself, I appreciated the scenes where director Stephan Elliot shows how hard drag queens work for their performances, how frustrating the whole experience sometimes can be and also how rewarding.

Outstanding are and a character of their own are the costumes and the wigs, who are hilarious and both Lizzie Gardner and Tim Chapell deserved their Oscars for the best costumes.

Though there are some red herrings, the movie is a splendid and funny experience and minor flaws are easily forgiven. Remarkable are the constant jokes, who are sometimes rather ribald. But it's refreshing to see some anarchistic humor (compared to Hollywood) and some of the gags are unforgettable (just watch out for the Ping Pong balls!)

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30 out of 43 people found the following comment useful :-
Toward the Acceptance of Diversity, 15 January 2005

Author: jpizzo9 from Bronx, New York

This is a film that every straight person should see. The screenwriter created three drags queens from the cloth of everyday life — an older person (who happens to be transgendered), an average guy next door and a pretty muscle boy. You can say that this film is about "the great reach of little lives" (a comment originally applied by Donald Spoto to Tennesee Williams' "The Glass Menagerie.") We also see, in Anthony Bellerose's story, that sexuality is not a cut-and-dried affair. Underneath it all, we see that these people aren't much different from those we meet ion our daily lives. A screening of "Priscilla" would do more good than a hundred lectures to high school kids on the acceptance of diversity.

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21 out of 28 people found the following comment useful :-
This is comedy, 9 April 2005

Author: vollenhoven from The Netherlands

This movie made laugh and does so every time I see it again. Perhaps it won't go down in history as a timeless classic is does deserve it so much. The original premise is a weird one, about transsexuals traveling through the desert of Australia. The sense of humor is very wicked and thank God for small favors not restrained to Hollywood standards. And I've never watched a game of table tennis without a smallish grin on my face which has little to do with the game in it self.

The actors are great an absolute anti choice in the matters of typecasting . The scenery of the movie is great, the bus in the desert are two extra players that give this movie an extra beaut. The extra castmembers are great and unforgettable. Ever since when I watch an episode of Flying Doctors or things in his sort I wonder about the nutty folks out there. the costumes are great and gobsmacking, they perform very well in the musical numbers.

I showed this to my mum, after the initial shock she was very amused and agreed with me that it was a very funny movie.

I will watch this movie a lot in the future, why?? It keeps me laughing every time.

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18 out of 27 people found the following comment useful :-
FANTASTIC MOVIE, 9 April 2004
Author: Chris Rogers (rogers-c@rogers.com) from Canada

This film goes down in my books as one of the best. The emotion involved with everything that happens is just heartwrenching. One moment i was laughing the next in tears. I would reccomend this film to anyone who wants a realistic look at gay life in the 80's. It's amazing how narrow minded people can be, but these people show us the true meaning of life, love, fatherhood, and most of all friendship and loyalty. Using humor and good natured prodding of controversial issues, the filmmaker is able to break through the barrier of bias, and get to the core of these three magnificent people. Fantastic Job!

Chris Rogers

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14 out of 20 people found the following comment useful :-
finally ..., 23 July 2003

Author: didi-5 from United Kingdom

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.

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15 out of 23 people found the following comment useful :-
i got racoon eyes watching it !!!!!, 31 January 2006

Author: findingcs from United Kingdom

i absolutely love this film, its one of my faves ever!!! i saw a small clip of it and it made me laugh so i bought the film and every time i watch it i sit there singing along to it and laughing so much that tears fall down my face.its hilarious the things that happen in it are great. the costumes are amazing and the acting is great they really did a good job. i swear that if you hear the opening song that you will sing it sometime without knowing it. I'm so glad i bought it if I'm bored or feeling down or sick them i watch this film and it cheers me up and i cant stop laughing; its that good. one of my faves in the film is with the "4th member?"

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