The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert

1994 "She's back... Looking as gorgeous and outrageous as ever in a brand new frock."
7.5| 1h44m| R| en| More Info
Released: 10 August 1994 Released
Producted By: Specific Films
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website: https://www.priscillamovie.com/
Info

Two drag queens and a transgender woman contract to perform a drag show at a resort in Alice Springs, a town in the remote Australian desert. As they head west from Sydney aboard their lavender bus, Priscilla, the three friends come to the forefront of a comedy of errors, encountering a number of strange characters, as well as incidents of homophobia, whilst widening comfort zones and finding new horizons.

Genre

Drama, Comedy

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The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994) is now streaming with subscription on Prime Video

Director

Stephan Elliott

Production Companies

Specific Films

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The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert Audience Reviews

Evengyny Thanks for the memories!
Tedfoldol everything you have heard about this movie is true.
Console best movie i've ever seen.
Pacionsbo Absolutely Fantastic
lasttimeisaw Revisiting this 90s flamboyant drag cult made from Down Under, a trio of drag performers, two drag queens, Mitzi (Weaving) and Felicia (Pearce) and a trans-woman Bernadette (Stamp), embarks on a road trip on their titularly coined bus, from Sydney to the outback to perform their routines, en route, they meet multifarious people (whose reaction ranging from beneficent, gobsmacked, impassive, miffed to violent, and the juxtaposition between the aborigine and the white hicks is piercingly sharp) and each has his/her own generational revelation to cope with by the time their four-week-stint ends.Felicia, a sassy whippersnapper played by a sinewy Guy Pearce in his breaking-out cinema role, who constantly squabbles with Bernadette and has to learn his lesson in a hard way after he has a narrow escape from hate-crime induced mutilation, and Pearce is barnstorming to a fault, as if he is too self-aware of his orthodox masculine appearance, which he compensates with a patina of overlown effeminate affectation and posturing that runs to distracting, as we know that queer and masculine don't necessarily exclude each other, perceivably, he is the weakest link in the fold.Hugo Weaving's Mitzi, acting more natural in his persona's stage/private distinction, carries a more weighty responsibility when we realize he is married to a woman and they have an eight-year-old son Benji (Holmes), the burden of guilt and shame is what weighs down on every nonconformist being's soul, his tentative attempt to reconnect with Benj engages with a tender vulnerability that precariously avoids becoming saccharine, which says a lot about the performer's emotive strength. Nevertheless, the best performance unequivocally comes from Terence Stamp, whose Bernadette is long in the tooth, but she proves that wisdom, dignity and snide quips are amassed through years of hardened self-preservation against side-eyes and brandishing fists, Stamp embodies her with superlative poise larded with subtle cynicism and utter phlegm, which makes Bernadette's romantic kindling with a rough diamond Bob (Hunter) more like an unexpected boon than a hackneyed plot maneuver. The show must go on, and for a drag troupe of three, lip-syncing of queer-friendly iconic hits (Charlene's I'VE NEVER BEEN ME is an infectious show opener, which would be dusted off in Lynne Ramsay's YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE 2017, and rendered an idiosyncratically poignant effect) is just a one trick pony doesn't offer much variations, so their pageantry lives and dies with its gaudy, zany, eye-popping, varicolored, Oscar-winning apparel, particularly when being put into use against the vast topography in the middle of nowhere, and the crowning moment on the top of King's canyon, that majesty feeling of being unique in a cosmic world is so refreshing and life-affirming. Lastly, one cannot stress this enough, it is an unqualified relief that director/writer Stephan Elliott sticks to his guns with a less dramatic leitmotif to anchor his tragedy-prone subject matter in the most gracious way one can probably conceive, PRISCILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESERT is truly, a hoot and a half.
Python Hyena The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994): Dir: Stephan Elliott / Cast: Hugo Weaving, Guy Pearce, Terence Stamp, Bill Hunter, Sarah Chadwick: Comedy that highlights the exposure of alternative lifestyles in our culture. It regards three drag queens trekking across the Australian outback to a performance gig. They are met with scorn by those oppose to the lifestyle while others embrace their humorous actions. Terence Stamp stands out as Bernadette, an aged veteran drag queen looking to leave the public gigs behind. Hugo Weaving plays Mitzi whom we learn has a wife and son. In fact, it is his wife's casino that homes their latest gig. Mitzi left that life for his current and ponders how his son will react to his lifestyle. Guy Pearce plays the flamboyant Felicia who encounters the brutality of opposition when his antics fall on negativity. Bill Hunter plays a mechanic who befriends the trio and grows close to Bernadette all the while his Asian wife frustrates him with a performance that involves golf balls. This antic is a horrible distraction that fails to mesh with any other humour presented here. Sarah Chadwick plays Mitzi's wife who seems to accept her husband's lot in life. Directed by Stephan Elliott with a detailed screenplay that only derails in the third act when it seems to drag on. Highlighted with colourful costumes that elevate the personalities parading across the desert in a pink bus. Score: 8 / 10
christinadepointedulac The Adventures of Priscilla: Queen Of The Desert is a fun and entertaining film about three drag queens who get together for a show in the Australian outback. One of them suffers a loss in her life and as a result gets together with her friends to perform one last tour as a way of getting away from her tragedy. They buy a busted old school bus, fix it up and hit the road together. As they travel across the country they sing, dance, play dress up and in the process bond closer together as friends. It's a wonderful and heartwarming film to watch if you're a fan of dresses, makeup, girl power and Abba! I recommend this film to anyone who's a fan of musical comedy.
Kiki This was a film that I had seen once before several years ago. It was riotously funny and heartwarming to watch at times. The film's over the top characters and acting made for campy entertainment.However, there are so many stereotypes here that I think it takes from the pro-LGBT message. The anatomically female characters are so horribly depicted that it made for some painful watching. That is with the exception of Marion (Sarah Chadwick), Tick/Mitzi's wife, who is lesbian or bisexual herself. Mitzi (Hugo Weaving), Bernadette (Terrence Stamp) and Felicia (Guy Pierce) have casino gig in Alice Springs, about 1800 miles from Sydney. Felicia purchased a hooptie bus that acted as a makeshift tour vehicle and christened it Priscilla. From then on, the film documents the adventures and travails of the trio until they arrive in the Northern Territory.Their first misadventure occurs when they go shopping and drinking at the Palace Hotel. The place was anything but a Palace. They encounter Shirley (June Marie Bennett), a scruffy looking woman who informs the trio that they are not welcome because of their appearance associated with their orientation. Bernadette in turn responds with some nastiness of "her" own and calls Shirley a "mullet" and tells her that the only satisfaction that she'll ever get is when she lights her lady bits on fire. Later on, "Bernice" and "Shirl" go toe to toe in a drinking contest, where she loses to Bernadette. The message here is: haters never win and a transgendered woman's as strong as any biological female. However, females have a lower tolerance for alcohol than males.There are other snags along the way such as the malfunctioning bus, which serves as a metaphor for the little engine that can. The "girls" suffer anti-gay bigotry where Felicia is almost mobbed by a group of angry macho men. It is around this time when Bob (Bill Hunter) and Bernadette fall in love after courtship.I can see the moments where the film chastises people who do not allow others who are different to live and be themselves. These characters are so exaggerated, even for drag queen standards. This bold face type portrayal underscores the point that gays are often targeted for expressing themselves. The film shows how dull and unsophisticated conservatively minded people are.The only people who express empathy are the Aboriginals, whose names we never find out. In the film they're just desert dwellers who play along with the queens. The trio appear uncomfortable (especially Tick/Mitzi) being with the indigenous people. The reasons for this apparent discomfort are unknown, but there's the underlying message that native peoples are not seen in "civilization." These people behaved with more humanity than the other townspeople that they encounter until Alice Springs.Cynthia (Julia Cortez) was the stereotypical Asian mail-order bride depicted as a vulgar lunatic whose purpose in the film was like that of a minstrel character who has one special trick: shoot golf balls from her vagina. Bob justifies treating his wife roughly because "she's always making a fool of herself." In addition to this, Cynthia's a lousy cook. She can't do anything right, except for that one thing. Her presence in the film acts as a contrast to Ralph/Bernadette by sending the message that heterosexual relationships are a joke. Bernadette is portrayed like a better lady than Cynthia and eventually snags her husband, Bob. He also treats Bernadette much, much better than Cynthia. Bob's very fascinated to be dating a former Les Girl (showgirl). There are several instances where the film and characters negatively depict the female anatomy and personhood, yet these men have earned their living impersonating women and lip synching to songs sung by women. The male characters live unhappily because they appropriate and disfigure the same thing that they aspire to be: womanhood.The end scenes with Benjamin (Mark Holmes), Marion and Tick's son, as as heartbreaking as they are troubling. "Benj" is a loving and understanding boy, yet he knows too much about his parent's intimate affairs for a child his age. He knows of his parents lovers and has a blase attitude about the situation with Mommy and Daddy. The scene with Benj sitting on top of a man's shoulders while watching Daddy Mitzi and Felicia's drag show was disconcerting. Children are not supposed to be in bars and casinos where adults drink, smoke, have sex and curse.Despite these things, I decided to rate the film 7/10 because this an honest and unsanitized look into the LGBT community. That helps me to better understand them and some of their issues. It's important to not sugarcoat things in order to make others feel better about themselves.