The Legend of Leigh Bowery (2002) User Reviews

The truly living artwork of Leigh Bowery

[pdmcin · 7/10 · 6 January 2008]

I want to start out by saying that I just happened by accident to catch this piece. I was also unaware of who Leigh Bowery was, being that I'm not into the "clubscene", and I'm not gay or into design. That being said, this is a truly remarkable film. If you haven't seen Leigh Bowery before, what he does is truly art. I was disturbed the entire way through the film. The costumes were disturbing, the subject matter pertaining to his life is disturbing, and the fact that something and someone so interesting could go seemingly unnoticed, by me at least, was disturbing. On a side note it also occurred to me that Marylyn Manson really isn't so original after seeing this as well. This documentary style film is definitely worth checking out, if nothing else but to see some of the amazing costumes that this artist put together.

Fashion as performance art

[Havan_IronOak · 7/10 · 17 April 2003]

Leigh Bowery was a London Club Kid of Australian origins who made a nightclub's night simply by entering the club. His outrageous costumes were always over the top and once you've seen one of his looks you'll never forget him.

The movie has a lot of performance footage of him at clubs as well as interviews with Boy George as well as many who knew him more closely. (including his Salvation Army parents)

This film not only gives you an idea of the man but also invokes an era that was unique and will not come again.

Interesting (may contain spoilers)

[jrobin6301 · 7/10 · 21 February 2006]

I saw this movie before i had ever heard about Leigh Bowery and this movie really documented his life and career it was really interesting and it showed a lot of his outlandish works of art Leigh was born in Australia and he was a fay fashion designer many of his works shocked and horrified . He was an infamous clubber and had amazing stage presence. Whether he was in gallery showing himself, nude, or giving birth to full grown women ha always had an amazing outlandish was to shock anyone. There are appearances by Boy Goerge , Rosie O'Donnel and Lucian Freud of which Leigh was his muse. if you haven't ever heard of Leigh or if you have and want to know more about him and what he was about then this is a great movie for you

hail the exhibitionist queen!

[didi-5 · 19 March 2004]

This short film, coming a decade after Bowery's untimely death from AIDS-related meningitis at the age of 33, presents an honest and interesting portrait of a clearly complex figure under all the glitter, high energy, and mad costumes. A larger than life image took him from Australia to the London gay clubland, costume design, and performance art (including a long association with the superb Michael Clark Dance Company), eventually culminating in the series of astonishing and touching portraits painted of him by Lucien Freud in 1990.

This film attempts to give a balanced view of its subject through interviews with his family, friends, colleagues and widow Nicola (a lady with odd fashion sense!). I think it does the job pretty well, and the chance to see so many clips (including interviews, bits from Because We Must, and footage of Minty) and so many costumes more than justifies an entire film on this bizarre kid from Down Under.

Art or artifice?

[beresfordjd · 7/10 · 22 January 2009]

An interesting piece, this documentary trots out a succession of pseuds and "artists" to express their ideas on Leigh Bowery. Sure he was a sort of original supreme exhibitionist where "getting ready became an art form" as someone says in the course of this. It's a little pathetic the desperation of that clique of people who would go so far in order to be different or original or outrageous. It amazes me how the media fall for this stuff over and over again-they are so gullible- Maclaren, Westwood, Boy George even as far back as Loog Oldham, they have all taken the "meeja" for a lucrative ride and the people have gone along with it. Just because it's outlandish does not make it good, interesting or ART. The arts community are responsible for condoning this and making it acceptable-I just find it boring and immature. You CAN fool a lot of the people a lot of the time. All this said it is a good documentary which tells the tale and holds the interest.

A Fashion Visionary

[qlazzarus24 · 10/10 · 22 January 2007]

A very captivating documentary about a visionary icon of his time and craft. If you know nothing of Leigh Bowery, he was a rather unusual bloke who grew up in a laid back suburb of Australia called Sunshine. Probably feeling stifled, he then left to make his mark in the world, ending up in London, England. This was basically as far as he could get from his upbringing without leaving the planet. But "otherworldly" was exactly what Leigh was. Leigh was and is described as "living art"; that is to say that Leigh wore his own masterpieces in the form of bizarrely, fantastic outfits. This was his lifestyle. Usually he wore them out to clubs and such, living a mostly nocturnal life as a kind of grandam in the London scene. With regard to his outfits, some say Leigh wore them to shock people, keeping them in the limbo of not knowing whether to feel embarrassed, stare, or just plain run in the other direction. One thing is for sure, Leigh was never ignored and basked in this somewhat perverted reality of emotions. Phantasmagorical, is the one word I can think to best describe Leigh Bowery.

Leigh's life and work are still celebrated today and have to come to the forefront as of late. He was definitely one of those cats who was ahead of their time.

If your interested in observing an awesome life, lived very, very differently, then this documentary is for you.

Pig farming in Boliva

[iam-69 · 12 August 2006]

The best attempt so far to capture the life and work of Leigh Bowery in film. Particularly interesting are clips from the early Eighties - ie the South of Watford sequence - showing Bowery with four key figures in his life - Trojan, Michael Clark, Rachel Auburn and the legendary flat itself complete with Star Trek wallpaper. A must see for anyone interested in this artist or 80's club land in London.

The notion that his life culminated in portraits by Lucien Freud (featured in the film) is bizarre and laughable. The man had established himself as an international icon and darling of the avant garde years earlier.