Hedwig and the Angry Inch (film)

Hedwig and the Angry Inch is a 2001 American musical comedydrama film based on the stage musical of the same name about a fictional rock band fronted by an East German genderqueer singer who survives a botched vaginoplasty performed to allow her to marry an American man and escape East Germany, only to get dumped a few months later. Hedwig subsequently develops a relationship with a younger man, Tommy, becoming his mentor and musical collaborator, only to have Tommy steal her music and move on without her. The film follows Hedwig and her backing band, the Angry Inch, as they shadow Tommys tour, while exploring Hedwigs past and complex gender identity. It was adapted and directed by John Cameron Mitchell, who also portrayed the title role. The music and lyrics are by Stephen Trask.

Hansel Schmidt is an East German slip of a girly boy who loves rock music, and is stuck in East Berlin until he meets Sgt Luther Robinson, an American soldier. Luther falls in love with Hansel and the two decide to marry. This plan will allow Hansel to leave communist East Germany for the capitalist West. However, in order to be married, the couple must consist of a man and a woman. Hansels mother, Hedwig, gives her child her name and passport and finds a doctor to perform a sex change. The operation is botched, however, leaving Hansel now Hedwig with a dysfunctional oneinch mound of flesh between her legs, the eponymous Angry Inch.Hedwig goes to live in Junction City, Kansas as Luthers wife. On their first wedding anniversary, Luther leaves Hedwig for a man. That same day, it is announced that the Berlin Wall has fallen and East Germans are flooding freely into the West, meaning as material gains go, Hedwigs sacrifices have been for nothing. Hedwig recovers from the separation by forming a rock band composed of Koreanborn Army wives. Hedwig befriends a shy and misunderstood Christian teenager, Tommy Speck, with whom she writes some songs. Hedwig falls in love with Tommy, and believes he is her other half. Hedwig gives him the stage name Tommy Gnosis stating that Gnosis is the Greek word for knowledge, but he later leaves her and goes on to become a wildly successful rock star with the songs Hedwig wrote alone and with him. Internationally ignored Hedwig and her band of Eastern Europeans, the Angry Inch, are forced to support themselves by playing coffee bars and strip mall dives. Throughout the film, these gigs are performed at a chain seafood restaurant called Bilgewaters. Hedwig is following Tommys tour in order to pursue a copyright lawsuit. She tells unsuspecting diners her life story. ........

Source: Wikipedia