To walk away, you gotta leave something behind.
I've seen John Cameron Mitchell's Hedwig and the Angry Inch, based on the stage musical he co-wrote with Stephen Trask, a few times since it was first released in 2001, but it has yet to lose any of its power. The story of an East German boy named Hansel who becomes Hedwig by sacrificing 5/6ths of his manhood so he can marry an American soldier (Maurice Dean Wint) who leaves her in the dust once they get back to Kansas, the film takes the form of an extended monologue punctuated by riotous songs as the defiant Hedwig and her band, the Angry Inch, crisscross the country, playing to the bewildered patrons of a chain of seafood restaurants as they shadow the arena tour of her former protege, Tommy Gnosis (Michael Pitt), who stole her songs and has gone on to be a huge rock star. Sounds like she has more then a few things to be miffed about, eh?
A film of enormous ambition and outsized performances (as well as a few creative animated sequences by Emily Hubley), Hedwig runs on Hedwig's brazenness and exuberance, which gives way to painful confessions and temperamental behavior, especially when it comes to her current beau/backup singer Yitzhak (Miriam Shor). Andrea Martin also adds some comic energy to the proceedings as Hedwig's go-getter of a manager (although I'm glad the absurd running gag about her cell-phone implant wound up on the cutting-room floor). The emphasis is on Hedwig and her songs, though, which is how it should be. Enemies and adversaries may try and tear her down, but she's strong enough that she'll always be able to get back up again.