THE ADVENTURES OF PRISCILLA: QUEEN OF THE DESERT (1994)

Director: Stephan Elliot

Writer: Stephan Elliot

Terence Stamp as Ralph/Bernadette
Hugo Weaving as Anthony/Mitzi
Guy Pearce as Adam/Felicia
Also Bill Hunter, Rebel Russell

An instant hit, and not just with Australia's sizable gay community, but with the entire cinema-going public. Three drag-queens hit the road in a coach called Priscilla and chaos ensues. Broad, unsubtle comedy, very much in the city sophisticate vs country bumpkin mode. The sheer exuberance and life of the characters almost raise this above the mix, although in the end it is bitchy, camp and lacking any real substance as a story. Much ado about nothing as a film, but it will always remain an audience favourite. 'Coming out' in the same year as Muriel's Wedding, Priscilla also marked a wave of optimism in Australian film - a wave that predictably broke a few years later as an ongoing string of such hits failed to materialise.