Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001) gets a Criterion Edition
The Criterion Collection released Hedwig and the Angry Inch to Blu-ray on June 25, 2019. John Cameron Mitchell directed the film starring John Cameron Mitchell, Miriam Shor, and Stephen Trask.
‘Hedwig and the Angry Inch’ Movie Synopsis
With this trailblazing musical, writer-director-star John Cameron Mitchell and composer-lyricist Stephen Trask brought their signature creation from stage to screen for a movie as unclassifiable as its protagonist. Raised a boy in East Berlin, Hedwig (Mitchell) undergoes a traumatic personal transformation in order to emigrate to the U.S., where she reinvents herself as an “internationally ignored” but divinely talented rock diva, characterized by Mitchell as inhabiting a “beautiful gender of one.” The film tells Hedwig’s story through her music, an eclectic assortment of original punk anthems and power ballads by Trask, matching them with a freewheeling cinematic mosaic of music-video fantasies, animated interludes, and moments of bracing emotional realism. A hard-charging song cycle and a tender character study, Hedwig and the Angry Inch is a tribute to the transcendent power of rock and roll.
Read the full summary, listen to our Movie House Concessions film review and Criterion Critics disc review.
Director-Approved Special Edition Features
- New 4K digital restoration, supervised by director John Cameron Mitchell and cinematographer Frank G. DeMarco, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray
- Audio commentary from 2001 featuring Mitchell and DeMarco
- New conversation among members of the cast and crew
- New conversation between composer and lyricist Stephen Trask and rock critic David Fricke about the soundtrack
- Documentary from 2003 tracing the development of the project
- Close look at the film’s Adam and Eve sequence
- New programs exploring Hedwig’s creation, look, and legacy through its memorabilia
- Deleted scenes with commentary by Mitchell and DeMarco
- Trailer
- English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- PLUS: An essay by critic Stephanie Zacharek, and (on the Blu-ray) portraits of Hedwig by photographer Mick Rock, illustrations by animator Emily Hubley, and excerpts from two texts that inspired the film: Plato’s Symposium and The Gospel of Thomas
Cover by Eric Skillman, based on a photo by Miguel Villalobos
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New Line Cinema released Hedwig and the Angry Inch on September 12, 2001. John Cameron Mitchell directed the film starring John Cameron Mitchell, Miriam Shor, and Stephen Trask.