Contents

Saturday, January 26, 2019

'Bohemian Rhapsody' Rocks

Bohemian Rhapsody is a biopic about Freddie Mercury and the legendary rock band that he fronted for, Queen.  Focusing on the period from 1970 to 1985, the film explores the band’s inception, their rise to fame, the creative processes behind some of their greatest hits (most especially “Bohemian Rhapsody”), Freddie’s relationship with his family and lovers, and a few other storylines, which then culminates with their iconic Live Aid set.

Queen is one of my all-time favorite bands, and thus, this film is immediately fascinating to me.  I love how this film depicts the foursome as a true team – a family.  Although there are conflicts and egos that arise, their friendship and passion for music ultimately prevail.
In relation to this, it has one of the most impeccable castings I’ve ever seen in a movie.  Rami Malek, Gwilym Lee, Ben Hardly, and Joe Mazzello are uncanny, nigh mirror images of Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor, and John Deacon, respectively.  Their performances in all fronts – dramatic, lip syncing, and pretend playing of instruments – are pretty compelling, too.  Malek, in particular, rightfully deserves the recognition he’s getting this awards season.

As a drama revolving around people in the music industry, it doesn’t have the same depth that A Star Is Born has.  But it’s also not as tragic either.  Even though it touches on some mature and dark themes, Bohemian Rhapsody is ironically feel-good.  With its sanguine tone, it’s apparent that, above anything else, the intention of the film is to be a celebration of Queen and their beloved music.  Now, I’m sure that in order to bring this vision about, it had to opt for some significant historical inaccuracies.  And that’s fine.  After all, it’s not meant to serve as a documentary anyway.
All in all, Bohemian Rhapsody is a terrific film that should please most movie and Queen fans.

No comments:

Post a Comment