When exploring cinema from abroad, I am particular intrigued by Australian cinema. While doing my recent time in film school, I managed to take in quite a few films from Down Under. Something that always stuck out to me was the emphasis on Aussie masculinity. Not only do you have the Crocodile Dundee stereotype, but many other films depict the laid-back, beer-guzzling nature of Australian men. Take for example Aussie actor Bryan Brown in the film Two Hands as a Mafioso gang leader who chooses sweaty rugby shirts as his attire. Keeping the prominent idea of masculinity in mind, I was even more intrigued to see a film like The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert for the first time. After familiarizing myself with the macho depictions of characters in Australian film, I was now able to see things through the eyes of queer characters, and this turned out to be one wild and entertaining ride.
Priscilla was released in the United States in 1994 with a cast of primarily unknown actors. However, Terence Stamp is an exception. The tough guy actor better known for swinging projects out of the psychedelic era such as Billy Budd stars in Priscilla as a transvestite named Bernadette. After losing his/her life partner, Benadette is down on the dumps. This is when Tick (Hugo Weaving) suddenly calls and asks him to accompany him through the desert to do a drag cabaret show in another territory. Looking for an opportunity to get away, Bernadette and Tick load up with their obnoxious co-performer Adam (Guy Pearce) on a bus that they officially christen, “Priscilla, Queen of the Desert”.
The rest of the film follows the three…eh…men as they drive through the Australian Outback and work through their conflicts with one another. Most of the problems particularly come from Adam, whose immaturity and decadence gets to be much for the mourning Bernadette. On their trip, the three friends encounter love and bigotry with the people they meet. They also pick up an aged mechanic named Bob (Bill Hunter), who manages to connect with the similarly-aged Bernadette despite his upbringing in a narrow-minded world. So much drama occurs for this group of drag queens simply so they can look fabulous for a brief hotel stint. Or is that the only reason? It turns out the soft-spoken Tick has a hidden agenda for the road trip that may change the way his queer comrades see him.
There is something appropriately timed about the Special Edition release of this film in 2007. When the film was released in 1994, it certainly sent a shockwave through the minds of film buffs. Terence Stamp, a symbol of masculinity from the 1960s and 1970s, convincingly plays a heart-broken gender bender. His excellent performance overthrows any assumptions about the actor and the roles he can play. However, the same thing can be said for Stamp’s co-stars in 2007. The then relatively unknown Pearce and Weaving have since gone on to establish themselves as charismatic leading men. Weaving is most remembered as the evil Mr. Smith in The Matrix and the title hero in V for Vendetta. Pearce has earned a reputation himself as the star of Memento and The Proposition. Seeing all three of these men embracing their gay sides is quite a treat; the men get into their characters so much that they are virtually unrecognizable even without drag.
With the performances aside, Priscilla is simply an enjoyable road trip film decorated with flamboyance and flare. We’ve all seen the standard road trip film where goofy hi jinks ensue. For these men, an eventful adventure includes dressing in the most flamboyant costumes possible, and climbing a high desert mountain in their heels and fish stockings. With the exception of a few scenes that demonstrate homophobic tensions between the rugged men of the Outback and the drag performers, the film has a light tone that carries the plot from start to finish. Whether these men are bickering on the bus, or doing elaborate lip-sync renditions of ABBA, they are fun characters that do not take look to empathize. Terence Stamp is particularly on his mark as an exhausted queen who has seen it all.
It seems clear to me that Priscilla was the inspiration for the very crappy drag queen American film To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar. It is just unfortunate that the latter is what I caught in theaters in the 1990s. Priscilla does not meet my standards of a classic comedy, but I certainly enjoyed this unusual road trip film. Much credit goes to Terence Stamp for leaving his tough guy at home to become all woman. Fans of the film are encouraged to pick this up, and those unfamiliar should definitely rent this to visit an overseas treasure released over a decade ago.