Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)

Review

134min

Genre:     Fact-based, Drama, Music

Director:  Bryan Singer

Cast:       Rami Malek, Lucy Boynton, Gwilym Lee…and more

Writers:   Anthony McCarten and Peter Morgan

-Synopsis-

In rockin’ early 70s London, a prodigiously talented young immigrant and aspiring musician teams up with two of his fellow musicians/students and an unassuming bassist to form a wholly unique band, embarking on a whirlwind life and career which would change the face of popular music and create musical icons—culminating in a titanic 80s charity concert . . . and the performance which would cement their musical legend.

If there’s one film sub-genre that consistently throws up a stagnant narrative formula and generally fails to excite us it has to be the music biopic, but even we were intrigued by the possibility of a cinematic biography of one of the most theatrical and inventive bands ever. Now after a troubled gestation—which included delays, changing leads and a director who went AWOL under mysterious circumstances—the ‘Queen’ chronicles finally hits the big screens, giving us a toe-tappin’ glimpse of the making of one of the most beloved bands in rock ‘n’ roll history, and a backstage pass to the life of the most flamboyant and arguably the greatest frontman ever.

Rami Malek stars as Farrokh Bulsara, a young London immigrant from Zanzibar with rockstar ambitions and a four-octave vocal range, who meets his musical soulmates Brian May (Gwilym Lee), Roger Taylor (Ben Hardy) and John Deacon (Joseph Mazzello) and forms a musical sensation named Queen, transforming him into the show-stopping Freddie Mercury. But it’s not all plain sailing in this voyage of rock stardom, as Freddie struggles to balance a close and complex relationship with Mary Austin (Lucy Boynton) with his fluid sexuality in a less understanding time, while working through a fractured relationship with the band and dealing with his virtual death warrant AIDS diagnosis . . . and with all roads leading to Wembley.

As is the case with almost every Hollywood treatment of a true story, ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ employs its share of artistic license when dealing with the facts, taking some liberties when it come to characterisations and the story’s chronology, particularly with the state of the band in the lead up to Live Aid, but all-in-all remains faithful to the truth. It also takes place between two clear chronological bookends, the band’s birth at the start of the 70’s and their crowning Live Aid performance in 1985, thereby deliberately sidestepping the career resurgence which followed up until Freddie’s death in 1991—which gave us hit albums and movie soundtracks.

As far as foot-stomping, toe-tappin’ drama goes, you’ll have to go quite some way to top ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’. Armed with a musical set-list so iconic that even the most entrenched millennial would be familiar with, this is about as playful and energetic as a traditional biopic gets, working wonders within the sub-genre’s limitations, while featuring plenty of humour and levity . . . but also pathos and poignancy when appropriate.

Like any cinematic depiction of real people and true events, ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ depends entirely on the performance of its cast, and director Bryan Singer makes wise decisions from the start, beginning with not even trying to have his stars actually perform Queen or attempt to match Freddie’s vocal talent, but instead engage in very convincing lip-synching and very accurate theatrical stagecraft.

The band’s three main instrumentalists are authentically brought to life by three well-cast young actors who do much more than bear a physical resemblance to their real life counterparts, while other supporting stars play their parts admirably, including the always solid Tom Hollander as Queen’s lawyer-turned-manager, and a brief appearance by an almost unrecognisable Mike Myers as a naysaying British record executive.

However just as Freddie was the star of every show he graced, Rami Malek is undoubtedly the star of this one, holding the entire endeavour together with an Oscar-calibre performance which goes well beyond imitation or homage, proving fabulous and flamboyant when expected but also nuanced and poignant—capturing the essence of both Freddie Mercury and Farrokh Bulsara, threatening to make him a household name to those unfamiliar with his supporting film roles, or his starring turn on US television.

‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ is far from a biographical masterpiece though, hampered by the limitations of a traditional biopic and employing the all-too familiar ‘rise to fall to rise again’ narrative, while lacking edge and only flirting with being a socially timely tale of immigrants and outsiders. But this was always meant to be a crowd-pleasing, nostalgia-led tribute to the game-changing band and their irrepressible frontman—which was co-produced by Queen itself after all—and what an entertaining and life-affirming tribute it is.

Perhaps the most unfair criticism levelled at the film is the notion that it somehow sidesteps the topic of Freddie Mercury’s homosexuality or his struggles with AIDS, and is therefore not a politicised enough biopic. Not only are these accusation unfounded, but they either wilfully ignore or are ignorant of the fact Freddie himself was never completely open about his sexuality in public and was deliberately ambiguous about it, and that he never publicly acknowledged his AIDS diagnosis (actually denying it) until just before his death—which makes the film more faithful to him than those who wish to engineer his depiction to fit the social legacy of his life . . . and death.

The Bottom Line…

A melodic and rousing celebration of one of the world’s greatest bands and their mercurial frontman, ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ doesn’t break the music biopic mould but proves as playful and entertaining as it’s allowed to be, while poignant when it has to. Suitably eye-opening and blessed by a stellar central performance, it will tug at your heartstrings and tickle your nostalgia bone—leaving you tapping your feet and singing along . . . much to the dismay of your fellow cinema-goers.

Similar films you may like (Home Video)

England Is Mine (2017)

Critical of the local music scene and disenchanted with Britain in the late 70s, a young Lancashire lad channels his writing talents and a grating personality into revolutionising popular music, as he embarks on the path to forming one of the most influential bands of the 1980s in this early life portrait of ‘The Smiths’ frontman Morrissey.

Directed by Mark Gill and starring Jack Lowden, Jessica Brown Findlay and Simone Kirby among others.

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