Bohemian Rhapsody

Rating: 7/10 (5 November 2018)

I am huge fan of Queen and lead singer Freddie Mercury, so I was highly excited about seeing a biopic, I had been hearing about the making of this much-delayed film for a few years, including the departure of original leading actor Sacha Baron Cohen. I saw a good number of trailer for it, it looked like it was going to be fantastic, and it was released four days before my birthday, so I hoped it would be a perfect treat, directed by Bryan Singer (The Usual Suspects, X-Men, Superman Returns, Valkyrie, X-Men: Days of Future Past), and Dexter Fletcher (uncredited, completed the film after Singer's departure). Basically in 1970, Indian British Parsi college student Farrokh Bulsara (Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe winning Rami Malek) works as a baggage handler at Heathrow Airport, but dreams of becoming a singer, and has a hobby for song writing. One night he goes to a nightclub to watch a local band called Smile, after the show he meets the band, guitarist Brian May (Gwilym Lee) and drummer Roger Taylor (EastEnders' Ben Hardy). But the band's lead vocalist bassist/vocalist Tim Staffell (Jack Roth) quits to join the band Humpy Bong, Farrokh offers to become their new lead singer, and their songwriter. The band are also joined by bassist John Deacon (Joseph Mazzello), and they rename themselves Queen, they play numerous local gigs across England, until they sell their van to fund and produce their debut album, Queen. Their musical style lands them a contract with EMI Records, and at the same time, Farrokh legally changes his name to Freddie Mercury and becomes engaged to Mary Austin (Lucy Boynton). Queen slowly climb to stardom, with a further two albums, Queen II and Sheer Heart Attack, and go on tour to the United States, it is there that Freddie begins to question his sexuality. In 1975, Queen record their fourth album, A Night at the Opera, they insist that the first song released is "Bohemian Rhapsody", but executive Ray Foster (Mike Myers) refuses, saying radio will not play a six-minute long, so they leave EMI. Freddie meets DJ Kenny Everett (Dickie Beau) on Capital Radio, who debuts the song on the airwaves, despite mixed reviews, "Bohemian Rhapsody" becomes a smash hit, reaching Christmas Number One (and again in 1991). Shortly after returning from the band's world tour, Freddie is heartbroken when Mary breaks up with him when he reveals to her that he is bisexual, but she aware that he is actually gay. He then forms a relationship with his personal manager Paul Prenter (Allen Leech). With albums A Day at the Races, News of the World, Jazz, and The Game, the success of Queen continues into the 1980s, Freddie has grown a moustache, but tensions arise between the band members over the direction of their music and a change in Freddie's attitude. After a lavish party at his home, Freddie falls in love with Jim Hutton (Aaron McCusker), one of the waiters at the party. They shortly part ways, with Jim telling Freddie to look for him when he finds his inner self. Freddie is bombarded with questions on his personal life and sexuality, during band's press conference to promote their 1982 album Hot Space, no questions about the album itself. Freddie's relationship with his band mates dissipates when he announces that he signed a $4 million deal with CBS Records to go solo. In 1984, he moves to Munich to work on his first solo album Mr. Bad Guy and engage in non-stop gay orgies with Paul. One night, Mary pays him a visit and urges him to return to the band, they have been offered a spot in the benefit concert Live Aid at Wembley Stadium, organised by Bob Geldof (Dermot Murphy), she also reveals that she is pregnant. After discovering Paul withheld information about Live Aid from him, Freddie breaks up with Paul, who is response goes on television to discuss Freddie's sexual escapades. The AIDS virus outbreak is spreading worldwide, Freddie secretly has himself medically checked and discovers that he does have the infection. Freddie returns to London to meet with his band mates and current manager Jim Beach (Tom Hollander) to ask for forgiveness, they reconcile and are given a last-minute slot in Live Aid. During rehearsals, Freddie reveals to Roger, Brian and John that he has AIDS, they promise to keep this between them. On the day of Live Aid, he reunites with Hutton and then reconnects with his family, with his father's Zoroastrian maxim, "Good thoughts, good words, good deeds." Queen's 1985 Live Aid 20-minute performance, with six of their greatest hits, and the a cappella section that became "The Note Heard Round the World", is a tremendous success, helping increase the rate of donations during the event. Following Freddie's death from AIDS in 1991, Beach and the remaining members of Queen create the Mercury Phoenix Trust to help combat the spread of AIDS worldwide, and his tribute concert followed in 1992. Also starring Aidan Gillen as John Reid, Ace Bhatti as Mercury's father Bomi Bulsara, Meneka Das as Mercury's mother Jer Bulsara, Priya Blackburn as Mercury's sister Kashmira Bulsara and Max Bennett as Mary's new boyfriend David. Featuring the songs "Somebody to Love", "Keep Yourself Alive", "Seven Seas of Rhye","Bohemian Rhapsody" (the title song became popular again months before the film's release when it was used in the John Lewis & Partners advert), "Killer Queen", "Fat Bottomed Girls", "Love of My Life", "You're My Best Friend", "Now I'm Here", "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", "We Will Rock You", "Another One Bits the Dust", "I Want to Break Free", "Under Pressure" (featuring David Bowie), "Who Wants to Live Forever", "Radio Ga Ga", "Hammer to Fall", "We Are the Champions", "Don't Stop Me Now" and "The Show Must Go On". Malek gives a superb performance as the flamboyant, troubled and iconic Mercury, his look (including the teeth), accent and mannerisms are spot on, Hardy as Taylor is okay, Lee as May is good, and Mazzello as Deacon is alright, Myers is great and almost unrecognisable, Boynton is good, and other supporting real-life characters are alright, special mention should go to Murphy as Everett and Murphy as Geldof. To be fair to the critics, there are things I do agree with in their opinions, the troubled production may be something to consider, the facts are not all correct (for example, Mercury was tested for AIDS, but not diagnosed until 1987), the pacing is a little iffy at times, some supporting performances are a little flat, and it does have clichés. But for Malek, the brilliant music (most from their Greatest Hits albums) used in some clever and poignant scenes (including the making and recording of them), the emotional moments, and of course the spectacular recreation of Live Aid (the first scene filmed), this is a must-see movie for any Queen and Freddie Mercury aficionado, a great biographical drama. It won the Oscars for Best Film Editing, Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing, and it was nominated for Best Motion Picture of the Year, it won the BAFTA for Best Sound, and it was nominated for Outstanding British Film of the Year, Best Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Make Up/Hair and Best Costume Design, and it won the Golden Globe Best for Motion Picture - Drama. Very good!