62. The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert

No matter who you are or where you come from, love is blind and knows no bounds or color…except maybe pink. The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert may seem on the surface to be another drag queen comedy but at its core, there is a complete sense of honesty, depth and passion. The film is about two drag queens and a transsexual who travel across the Australian outback on a road trip mission to Alice Springs. Mitzi Del Bra (Hugo Weaving before he became well known as Elrond and Agent Smith in The Lord of the Rings and The Matrix trilogies) receives a call in the night asking for his presence at the mid-desert vacation city. He gathers together two friends, ingénue Felicia Goodfellow (Guy Pearce before his notoriety in L .A. Confidential and Memento) and ‘Tranny’ Bernadette Bassenger (‘60s heartthrob Terrence Stamp, most easily recognized by modern audiences as General Zod in Superman II). Along their bizarre trip they come across various cultural shocks as their big city demeanor and style clashes heavily with the conservative and peaceful outback. Through various entertaining musical numbers, we come to love these conflicted characters.

This film arrived during an especially trying time in the mid-1990s when movies tackling homosexual topics were just beginning to gain mainstream appeal. Its status as a comedy doesn’t devalue the fact that it tackles social taboos and makes a significant statement about the power of love, regardless of its target. Priscilla, the nickname of their bus, is an enjoyable excursion with plenty of laughs and tears to keep any audience entertained while teaching them important social values. (Wesley Lovell)