The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert

Brilliantly bitchy, fabulously photographed and wonderfully played, this Australian frock opera (the costumes won a well-deserved Oscar) addresses serious issues with satirical accuracy and profound insight. Tossing the niceties of sexual politics out of the window of a speeding bus, director Stephan Elliott sets about exposing the soft underbelly of the Australian male. Two drag queens and a transsexual travel across the outback in a dilapidated coach for a gig in that bastion of machismo, Alice Springs, en route finding themselves in all manner of hilarious fish-out-of-water situations. As they gaily bemuse Aborigines, bait vicious homophobes and find kindred spirits among Australia's diverse immigrant communities, they come to terms not only with their own shortcomings, but also with Australia's countless contradictions. Ingeniously cast against type, Terence Stamp is a revelation as the hard-drinking transsexual, but he's matched all the way by the versatile Hugo Weaving and the dashing Guy Pearce. Tremendous fun, with a deliciously sugar-coated message, this is the closest the cinema has come to a proper musical in years.