The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994)
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The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert Movie Review
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert is a 1994 dramedy film directed by Stephan Elliot and starring Terence Stamp, Hugo Weaving and Guy Pearce. It’s a terrific flick.
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“Now, listen here, you mullet.
Why don’t you just light your tampon and blow your box apart?
Because it’s the only bang you’re ever gonna get, sweetheart“
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This is one hell of a road trip movie which is more authentic and fun than most others of its type. It follows two drag queens and one transgender woman who go on a tour across the Australian Outback toward Alice Springs where they are scheduled to perform. Across their journey, they encounter many colorful characters and also a lot of personal drama.
Yes, this movie is highly entertaining, but it’s also quite moving and it possesses genuine depth which is uncharacteristic of this type of film which is why I appreciated it quite a bit. We get a road to fatherhood beautifully showcased as well as a romance between a trans and a cis person. In those two stories, we realize how good, open-minded people exist in this world and it’s thus one of the most purely optimistic, wonderful gay movies that I have ever seen.
But the movie is still a comedy after all and a highly successful one at that. Although it can get maybe a bit too dramatic at times and serious, for the most part it’s hugely entertaining and honestly it serves as a terrific adventure as well with the Outback being gloriously utilized and it’s thus easy to see why the Australians love this film so much. The humor is on point throughout and their interactions are both realistic and amusing. Many lines of dialogue cracked me up.
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It’s problematic that they chose Terence Stamp to play a transgender woman when he looks way too macho for the role, but nonetheless he ended up being the acting standout by far. Bernadette is easily the heart and soul of the film and her journey toward romance as well as retirement is beautifully realized and Terence’s performance is outstanding and one of the year’s best.
But Hugo Weaving is also terrific and Mitzi’s role is great too as in Anthony we see a gay man scared of being a father, but in the end realizing that he could be a good one nevertheless. It’s a great proof of how great parents can come from a variety of places and backgrounds. I also really liked Guy Pearce and although Adam/Felicia is very much your stereotypical, bitchy gay male, he’s still very funny and all around a fun character to hang around. Cynthia is a problematic Asian stereotype, but Bob is a great soul and Marion is so wonderful as is of course their son Benjamin.
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The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert is superbly paced throughout and again it’s a spirited adventure with a couple of genuinely gorgeous shots of the Outback and some even very epic sequences. It’s a grand look at this region that really worked. The dialogue is also stellar and the emotional investment is high. Not all of its parts work as great because some of the parts where they encounter homophobia felt thrown in just for the sake of it, but I guess otherwise it would have been an overly unrealistic movie so I was okay with those as well. It’s just one of the better LGBT movies out there.
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert is phenomenally acted across the board and gorgeously shot with deservedly Oscar-winning costumes as well. It’s a spirited adventure that works as a fun, hugely entertaining comedy as well as a moving, surprisingly deep movie which it surely becomes in its final act. It’s an Australian classic with a great rewatchability factor to it.
