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Title: Movie Review: Bohemian Rhapsody
Source:
Reason
URL Source: https://reason.com/archives/2018/11 ... movie-review-bohemian-rhapsody
Published: Nov 2, 2018
Author: Kurt Loder
Post Date: 2018-11-02 07:32:26 by Deckard
Ping List: *Music* Subscribe to *Music*
Keywords: None
Views: 2163
Comments: 26
Bohemian Rhapsody—a movie that recounts the life of the late Queen singer Freddie Mercury, who's played by Rami Malek—is pretty wonderful in several ways, but it's also a museum of ancient biopic clichés. For example, in an early scene we see the young Freddie-to-be, an immigrant kid from Zanzibar named Farrokh Bulsara, at his parents' London home, where he lives. You've met these parents before. Dad (Ace Bhatti) is an old-world kind of guy who disapproves of this rock & roll music his son is so into, and the late-night life it engenders. However, Freddie's mom (Meneka Das) is an optimist. When her young nightcrawler says he's going "out with friends" again, she asks, hopefully, "A girl?" "Maaahhm," he whines. Classic: some light biography, a touch of sex-life foreshadowing. A little later we find Farrokh—or Freddie, as he's already calling himself—at a bar cheering on his favorite band, a group called Smile. Out in the parking lot between sets we see drummer Roger Taylor (Ben Hardy) and guitarist (and physics grad!) Brian May (Gwilym Lee) being informed by their singer that he's leaving the band. This character is barely out of the frame before Freddie pops up and informs the two Smilers that he's a songwriter and a singer, too. And we're thinking: Wait, what? When did he start doing these things? But the picture has already moved on. In less time than it might take an average person to cross the street, Freddie has joined the band, changed its name to Queen, and pushed it to record a demo. The group scores a record deal, releases an album, and is soon touring the world. At this point, Freddy is living with a sweet young woman named Mary Austin (Lucy Boynton, making a lot of a little role). They're really in love (he's given her an engagement ring), but she senses something is not quite right. In a scene set in the midst of a tour, we see Freddie at a pay phone in a concert-hall corridor, talking to Mary back in London. "Do you miss me?" she asks. "Don't be silly," he says, eyeing a pair of sultry lads nearby, who are eyeing him right back. "Of course I do." The narrative manipulations in this movie are classic head-smackers, but at least they're deployed forthrightly. I think the filmmakers (of whom there've been many over the course of the picture's messy eight-year development) have embraced tried-and-true clichés as a crowd-pleasing element of large-scale commercial storytelling. Like the makers of A Star Is Born, which has lately been sucking all the discretionary bucks out of the movie market that haven't already been hoovered up by Venom, they may be onto something that sophisticated observers are reluctant to acknowledge. Still, the picture might not be worth much discussion were it not for Rami Malek, whose performance as Freddie Mercury, both onstage and off, is…well, pick a superlative. Titanic, maybe. Volcanic, even. Swanning around in (recreated) venues from Madison Square Garden to London's Wembley Stadium (for the ripping 1985 Live Aid scenes), Malek has thoroughly nailed Freddie's harlequin-leotard concert persona. And the singing, although not his, is beautifully constructed and exhilarating. (What we're hearing is Mercury's original Queen vocal tracks mixed with the ultra-Freddie-like voice of Canadian singer Marc Martel—a mixture fresh enough to dispel the usual dire vibe of soulless lip-synching.) To the actor's great credit, Malek's Freddie is a complex character after the music stops playing. The singer had an extreme overbite (the result of four extra incisors he'd been born with), and this required Malek to wear jutting prosthetic bucked teeth throughout the film. The marvel of this is that we pretty much forget about it after the movie takes hold. Mercury may have been embarrassed about his dental abnormality, but he didn't show it—in fact, he believed it to be an important component of his vocal power. As he tells another character at one point, "I'm exactly the person I was always meant to be. I'm not afraid of anything." There's been some pre-release grumbling about the way that Mercury's sexuality is portrayed in the movie. This is unfounded. By all accounts, he saw Mary Austin as a true soulmate; and here, when they both realize that he is gay, and that their physical relationship is over, he implores her to continue wearing the engagement ring he gave her. "What do you want from me?" she asks in some frustration. "Almost everything," he says. But the movie is also straightforward in depicting Mercury's gay relationships, for better and worse. We see him being cruelly manipulated by a snake named Paul Prenter (Allen Leech), who has compromising photographs and ultimately sells him out to the tabloids. And we see him finding long-term happiness with Jim Hutton (Aaron McCusker), who was with Freddie when he died of AIDS-related pneumonia in 1991. But it's fair to say that his deepest love really was for Mary Austin, to whom he left the bulk of his very large fortune when he died. These details of Freddie Mercury's story are so moving that we nearly stop noticing the movie's ongoing narrative cheese. When we see Brian May in a studio thumping out a rhythm with his foot as he works up a number that will "give the audience a song they can perform," we know we're present at the birth of "We Will Rock You." And when John Deacon tries to cool down a studio argument with a dance-y little bass riff he's just dreamed up, well, here comes "Another One Bites the Dust." At one point, someone in this film actually says, "Freddie, you're burning the candle at both ends." I say embrace this vintage silliness. It's worth it.
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Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 15.
#1. To: Deckard (#0)
(Edited)
I have seen and heard Brian May say on television that if Freddy was a homosexual it comes as a complete shock to him because they shared hotel rooms and hundreds f groupies while on tour over the years,and he never once saw him with a man. Sounds to me like Freddy was predominately heterosexual,with a some bi-sexual experiment going on as time passed. And of course,once he caught AIDS,that pretty much shut him down and restricted him to the people he was currently having sex with. Damn shame he died so young. His musical talent really did make him a gift to the world. BTW,if you want to watch another movie about a music legend,I strongly recommend "Walk the Line",about Johnny Cash. If you weren't a fan before watching the movie,you will be after you see it. It has Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon in the lead roles. "Stunning performances" isn't too a description of the work they do here. I will never hear that base line again without smiling.
There are a few good, accurate documentaries on YouTube that answer your questions. Mercury hooked up with Mary Austin, during the early 70’s. While he was dating her, he was cornholing men, behind her back. Interviews with her indicate she had a feeling he was a silly faggot, before he sat her down and told her he smooches pickles. Mercury, during the mid 70’s, before he was famous in USA, while moderately famous in the UK, would travel to NYC, between music tours, to take advantage of the sick ass fucking NYC faggot scene. He did this to keep his sick twisted love for other men’s assholes, a secret from his band mates and his UK fan base He actually didn’t tell his band he was a filthy cock sucker, until he had been diagnosed with AIDS, after the live AID concert. The band mates have stated that thought he was bi-, but Mercury did not talk about it... even with his blood realities. He jumped through hoops to keep his diagnosis a secret... and was always close to Mary Austin, right up to his death. She was in the room when he died. Incidentally, the two faggots from NYC that Mercury would ass fuck every trip to America, ALSO DIED OF AIDS. Now, let me be clear. I think Mercury was in the top 5 greatest frontmen in rock & roll. I think his voice was amazing in the respect that he had the ability to sing at different vocal ranges... unlike those two untalented monotone assholes, Neil Young and Johnny Cash. I own every album that Mercury ever recorded on... and I’ve watched every video (including documentaries) regarding Queen. I would pay dearly, to see him perform live, today. With that said... Mercury still was a deviant of nature and possessed a mental sickness called homosexuality. They defy the laws of nature... their lifestyles are disgusting and dangerous... and he got what he had coming. A death by AIDS.
The above is one of the few instances where you and I are in agreement. He was also one HELL of a good songwriter.
What would you consider his Top 3 compositions? He was the Richard Wagner of his time. Both co-incidentally were prone to composing operatic scores that were less melody and more theatrical. Like all art, beauty is subjective and in the eye/ear of the beholder. I prefer melodies. A related observational aside: Artistically, Brian May did the best he could do, mostly limited to fill-ins, riffs and hooks, and occasional rides, but generally his guitar chops were wasted. Mercury's theatrical vocals and song compositions made him the obvious focus. Going with the program DID make May a rich man.
#22. To: Liberator (#15)
What would you consider his Top 3 compositions? I can't remember right now. I basically quit listening to music a year or so ago,and hardly ever even think about it anymore.
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#4. To: sneakypete (#1)
(Edited)
Sounds to me like Freddy was predominately heterosexual,with a some bi-sexual experiment going on as time passed. And of course,once he caught AIDS,that pretty much shut him down and restricted him to the people he was currently having sex with.
#5. To: GrandIsland (#4)
I think Mercury was in the top 5 greatest frontmen in rock & roll. I think his voice was amazing in the respect that he had the ability to sing at different vocal ranges..
#15. To: sneakypete (#5)
He was also one HELL of a good songwriter.
Replies to Comment # 15. He was also one HELL of a good songwriter.
End Trace Mode for Comment # 15.
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