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The Legend of Leigh Bowery (2001)

tomatometer

100

Average Rating: 7/10
Critic Reviews: 5
Fresh: 5 | Rotten: 0

No consensus yet.

audience

70

liked it
Average Rating: 3.7/5
User Ratings: 665

My Rating

Movie Info

Born to a middle-class family in suburban Australia, Leigh Bowery moved to London, England, in the early '80s with a desire to re-invent himself. Always fascinated with fashion and the expressive possibilities of clothing, Bowery quickly became a noted figure in London's image-obsessed "New Romantic" scene, where (as Marcus Bracewell put it) "getting ready [to go out] became an art form." While Bowery's elaborate creations were striking, Bowery designed clothing as an art form rather than as

Jul 13, 2004

Palm Pictures

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All Critics (15) | Top Critics (5) | Fresh (10) | Rotten (1) | DVD (3)

The Legend of Leigh Bowery replaces the man within the queer myth to the extent that when it's over, Bowery seems less a freakish terror than the shrewd art-world transgressive he was.

April 16, 2004 Full Review Source: Boston Globe
Boston Globe
Top Critic IconTop Critic

As tributes go, The Legend of Leigh Bowery is a saucy eye-opener.

November 28, 2003 Full Review Source: Newsday
Newsday
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Without pushing too hard, the film makes a case for Bowery as a significant artistic catalyst blazing a glittery trail at the intersection of fashion, pop music and surrealist performance.

November 28, 2003 Full Review Source: New York Times
New York Times
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Absorbing documentary.

November 28, 2003
New York Post
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Atlas's remarkable moving-picture- book tribute to Bowery.

November 25, 2003 Full Review Source: Village Voice
Village Voice
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Boy George seems to be the only person genuinely inspired today to pick up Bowery's fashion torch, but if is that something anybody wants?

July 17, 2004 Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com
Filmcritic.com

A mesmerizing, beautifully made documentary.

December 6, 2003 Full Review Source: Film Journal International
Film Journal International

Put on your most frightening wig, and enjoy the show.

December 5, 2003 Full Review Source: E! Online
E! Online

You may find the film as outrageous as it is outlandish, and Bowery would have taken that as a compliment.

November 28, 2003 Full Review Source: Christian Science Monitor
Christian Science Monitor

An interesting doc, if only because it serves to introduce the work of a gifted, unique artist to those of us who have found little good to say about the 1980s and the excesses they produced.

November 26, 2003 Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine
Boxoffice Magazine

More hagiography than critique, smoothing out Bowery's rough edges to paint him as an irrepressibly charming svengali.

November 12, 2003 Full Review Source: Mixed Reviews

Audience Reviews for The Legend of Leigh Bowery

I was really blown away by the doc. nor had I ever heard of Leigh Bowery. Not for the easily offended watch with an open mind.
January 23, 2007
dementeddamsel72
Tammy Ward
Highly commend this to anyone who has been sheltered from Bowery thus far. The story is..... he was a showgirl, but that was many years ago when there used to be a show. WTF is the reaction Bowery most enjoyed, and it was my initial reaction to LB as I dawdled through life in the sort of suburbs he shrugged off. I was watching sbs" eat carpet" one night, might have had a drink or something, and a short film of Bowery came on wearing a helmet and "those" outfits; there was no google or wiki then, so for years I thought Leigh Bowery was a comic routine by Alexei Sayle.
Nicola Bowery is a stand out in this doco, and Michael Clark gets around in y fronts and pants with the back cut out, which must be worth a look in and of itself.
January 14, 2011
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