It's a landmark film right?

“Adventures of Priscilla” has gotta be some kind of iconic gay film at this point right? I’m trying to think back to 1994. A gay movie, not about AIDS, not some offensive takedown of gay culture. Even if the actors playing the leads are straight, which I believe they are, this is a giant step forward for presenting another side to the culture.


And it’s pretty joyous, too, which I believe is the point of Stephen Elliot’s movie. It shies away from the more overtly sexual stuff but through personality, costume, and attitude, Elliot makes the most of his little road trip comedy-drama, and it’s all funny, poignant, and more than delightful enough to engage a more mainstream crowd.


It features a before they were famous Hugo Weaving and Guy Pearce as Mitzi and Felicia, two drag queens who do a lip-syncing cabaret act in a Sydney, Australia nightclub. They have an older transgender friend named Bernadette (Terrance Stamp), who needs a pick me up after having just lost a friend of hers.


Mitzi has just what the doctor ordered- a gig for all three of them at a hotel in Alice Springs. So they all gather into Priscilla, a school bus that has been retconned into a rolling boudoir, and proceed on an adventure through the desert and other areas not entirely friendly to men in a skirt. Along the way, it becomes known this is Mitzi doing a favor for his wife.


Along the way the bus breaks down in the outback, and Elliot makes great use of his characters sticking out like sore thumbs. Mitzi working out moves in a sparkly green dress on top of a rock is wild enough but even more so when all three perform for the aborigines.


Another segment I enjoyed a heck of a lot is meeting an older man named Bob, who has a thing for an old drag show called “Les Girls”, or something like that. Anyway, Bob has a Filipino wife and her talent with ping pong balls is unmatched, even by Winona Ryder in “South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut”, which seems to take the joke from this movie.


It’s not above exposing us to the bigotry faced by the characters, or flashing back to turning point (or even just rough) moments during their childhoods. What’s unexpected about these scenes is that they play more like a representation of intelligence and fortitude than about victimhood.


And the acting couldn’t be better either, especially from Stamp. Whoever thought we’d see General Zodd wearing feathers and what looks like a goose pinata on his head? But beyond that, Stamp gives Bernadette a composed grace, a den mother like strength, an acerbic way of shredding intolerance, and a capacity to accept love when it’s genuine. Her moments with Bob, who joins the crew, are quite nice.


Pearce gets the more flamboyant role and we see that not just in the mannerisms but in the hilariously ostentatious costuming. There are moments where he rides on the top of Priscilla, smoking flares trailing him, as he seems to glide through the air wearing the most over the top stuff, complete with horns and swirling robes.


And Weaving seems more down to earth but also coming to terms with an old life he’s realized he never wanted. The third act seems to deal mostly with him and his old family, and while it remains far less heavy than you think it probably would get, the scenes with him and his wife and son are moving enough.


I’m sure there are things to drag queen culture that I completely missed in this movie but the bitchy repartee, the camp value, and overly extravagant costumes and production numbers are easy enough to get into anyway. And even straight dudes wouldn’t be surprised by the soundtrack, featuring The Village People, Abba, and Gloria Gaynor.


The whole thing is big, loud, and in your face but it has a heart, it’s very funny and it stays away from any serious messaging, if you don’t call letting LGBT live their lives serious messaging. Plus, I hear that a sequel is being planned so it sounds like the characters, and the bus, are still rolling strong 30 years later.