BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY: This biopic doesn’t bite the dust

It is the ultimate joy to watch the story unfold against the backdrop of the famous soundtracks of Queen’s major hits

 

 

BIOPIC

BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY

CAST: Rami Malek, Lucy Boynton, Gwilym Lee, Ben Hardy

DIRECTION: Bryan Singer

Who should watch it?

Bohemian Rhapsody is tailor made for the fans of Queen. They will definitely take this film as a celebration and tribute to the band.

 

‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ is an expensively produced, stu­dio-backed biopic about Fred­die Mercury, the legendary Brit­ish musician who led one of the most iconic Rock bands of all time, Queen. Biopics, or the based-on-real-life films, by their nature, have received bad repute over the years for their episodic narratives that try to say so much about their sub­jects they end up saying little. Bohe­mian Rhapsody doesn’t break free of its genre dimensions but to call it “another band movie” would be a grave disservice to the film. Within its template storytelling it shelters an emotional core that effectively exposes the musical genius’s chaotic relation with his own roots, sexual­ity and fame. Mercury is played by American actor Rami Malek. The actor sinks his teeth deep into Mercury’s char­acter, giving us a fully lived-in per­formance. The film opens with the shot of Mercury waking up from a deep slumber and then psyching himself to perform at the 1985 Live- Aid Concert. As he makes his way to the stage, we magically travel back to the 1970 London, where a young Farrokh Bulsara rebels against his conservative Parsi immigrant family to pursue a bolder dream of music. En route, he befriends Roger May (Gwilym Lee) and Roger Taylor (Ben Hardy) to form a band that performs at college pubs, and begins a roman­tic relationship with Mary Austin (Lucy Boynton). Much to his par­ents’ disapproval, Farrokh Bulsara changes his name to Freddie Mer­cury. Gradually Freddie becomes the force to push his other band mates to think big. They self-finance their first album that catapults them into mainstream pop music and lands them in America to much acclaim.

As far as Queen’s musical jour­ney is concerned, it feels way too regular. There’s the conflict among the group’s band members once they amass fame and fortune—the debate of whether to make passion­ate music or to be a formulaic sell­out—and the unwanted attacks from scandal-hungry media. Then again, hiding in these layers of familiarity are some powerfully interwoven moments.

One of them is the birthday scene where Freddie sits around with his band members and family. The fam­ily is meeting Freddie’s friends for the first time, so they are excited to talk about their rich Zoroastrian her­itage and their life before London. But Freddie continuously tries to change the topic, saying “No look­ing back, only forward”. A sense of Freddie not wanting to let his roots define him hauntingly mopes over this scene. We are left thinking: Was he so ashamed of his origins that he wanted to put a blanket over it? The answer to this is given when years later he purposefully injects “Bis­millah” in the lyrics of their most popular song Bohemian Rhapsody. A subtle hat tip that assures us he’s finally embraced his heritage.

The film refuses to take the spot­light away from Freddie Mercury and rarely focuses on the lives of other Queen members. It’s no sur­prise they feel underwritten and sometimes operate only to make the front-man look good. The film’s other weakness is it tries to string together a narrative jumping from one event to the other at lightning speed. But the ultimate joy of Bohe­mian Rhapsody is to watch the unfolding of the story orchestrated with the soundtrack of Queen’s major hits. The behind-the-scenes give us little nuggets about the cre­ative process of the band. Similarly, the concert sequences succeed in building an atmosphere of energy and nostalgia.

I wouldn’t say the film will age well. But for the time being, despite being formulaic, it is a movie that captures the spirit of Freddie Mer­cury and his music.