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(e)Book – Love and friendship

  (e) Book –  Love and friendship Full title :  Love and friendship and other early works Author : Jane Austen Score : /10 Year : 1790 (original) ; 2012 (this edition) Publisher : Duke Classics   ISBN  978-1-62012-155-9  // 9781620121559  (ebook)  Pages :  Language: English Jane Austen is best known for her 6 novels, which all have been adapted into tv movies - but after having read Virginia Woolf's short fiction in chronological order, I decided to apply the same for Austen's publications, to better appreciate her growth and evolution in narrative style. So, before reading her novels which were released from 1811 to 1817, in the following order :  Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma,  Northanger Abbey, Persuasion, I decided to go back to her teenage years, reading Love and Friendships, and other early works.

Movie - The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert





Score :  6/10 
Year : 1994 
Director:  Stephan Elliot
Cinematography: Brian J. Breheny
Music: Guy Gross ; (many others through characters' performances) 
Country: Australia 
Language: English (a bit if Filipino too)
Duration: 1h44 (IMDB) ; 1h38 (French dvd with 4% Pal speed-up)
Writers: Stephan Elliot 



Tick (Mitzi), Adam(Felicia) and Bernadette are drags who travel across the Australian desert, performing their unique style of drag cabaret in small towns as well as in the middle of nowhere, being either accepted or most often, rejected for their art and not fitting cisgender norms. Priscilla is the old and rickety bus they ride to their various destinations. 

Daring for 1994, this movie suggests several social commentaries, including bi-erasure and acceptance within gay community ; homophobia & prejudice as taught fears and  behaviours, opposed to nurtured acceptance, and though nothing in the movie is graphic in itself, the dialogues and implications of bigoted actions both make it R-Rated for many reasons. 

For LGBTQA+, it has to be seen at least once, as it includes a trans-gendered woman, men in drag, who express emotions and even cry - very unusual for its time, and also bi or pansexual characters. 

There are a few scenes that my wife fast-forwaded through, due to their content (one was a story she said I wouldn't like due to my sensitivity, 2 others weren't veg-friendly, and these are quick - a dead kangaroo in the back of a jeep, and later a barbecue scene). 

Music includes many gay-anthems such as Village People's Go West, Abba songs, Gloria Gaynor's I will survive, and others (read soundtrack on wiki) performed for a few moments each, as this movie is a mix of dramedy and music. 

It has a rather good pace and acting, dealing with serious social issues and offering comic relief - though beware, many scenes and dialogues are serious and includes sex references. 

Cinematography may not shine particularly in this independent feature, but am sure there were talented people to shoot each landscape, night and indoor scenes, especially where reflective materials shine nicely. 

There are a few surreal and weird scenes, too. 

Lastly, each important character gets a flashback scene to set a character build-up and evolution, and the ending is a bittersweet, unexpected one. 

I enjoyed the movie, overall, but I don't think I'll watch it again, due to those few scenes that had to be skipped. 


Cast : 

Terence Stamp as Bernadette Bassenger
Hugo Weaving as Anthony "Tick" Belrose/Mitzi Del Bra
Guy Pearce as Adam Whitely/Felicia Jollygoodfellow
et al.

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