Bohemian Rhapsody

By: Arlene Allen

It’s going to be a rough year for Oscar judges with so many fine performances by a male lead in a motion picture. Perhaps the most dynamic of them all is Rami Malek as the iconic Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody. Malek does not simply portray Mercury, he becomes Mercury. In fact, so much so that it’s downright eerie at times. Saying that he will rock you in an understatement.

The film follows Mercury from his days of wanting to be a performer and first meeting what would become the rest of the band Queen. He always pushes his own limits, as well as that of the band’s and their various managers and record producers, too. We get to see “Bohemian Rhapsody” being made and the almost instantaneous fame that followed it.

This could have been a sad, standard sex, drugs and rock n’ roll tragedy, but once again, Malek as Mercury never lets the film become paint by numbers. Mercury’s sexuality is explored, from his early days of his relationship with Mary Austin (Lucy Boynton) until he finally meets the man he settles down with, Jim Hutton (Aaron McCusker). But there’s a whole lot of in between there and as Mercury was once quoted as saying, “Darling, I’ve done everything with everyone.”

The other band members are well represented as well and the looks of Brian May (Gwilym Lee), Roger Taylor (Ben Hardy) and John Deacon (Joe Mazzello) are uncanny. The film takes you into Queen at the height of their careers, complete with all of their most well known and beloved songs.  I can almost guarantee songs from the soundtrack will put Queen back on top of the charts once again.

Of course, all is not always well within the interpersonal relationships of the band members, with Freddie’s outrageousness and demands driving the band apart for years. It’s during those years that Freddie received the news that he had contracted AIDS. In the film it’s what reunites him with the band for their performance at Live Aid in 1985. They almost missed it, but it is heavily implied that the band felt that this might be Freddie’s last performance and it’s played with all of that immediacy and poignancy.

The Live Aid concert is recreated down to the very last detail, from the sound engineer raising the volume on Queen’s set so they became the loudest band there to Malek recreating Mercury’s every single move on stage. If you put the ‘85 concert footage side by side with the movie’s footage, you’ll see it’s almost supernatural in the way Malek nails it.

This is where the film ends, triumphantly. This is, after all, not a movie about Freddie’s death but about his life and how he took every moment of it and made something out of it. Freddie was fearless and this reviewer came away with Freddie preferring this celebration of life than a dirge about his death.

Bryan Singer’s (although he was fired partway through production and replaced with Dexter Fletcher; the MPAA gives Singer the full credit) fine direction helps bring out the very best from the entire cast, but most especially Malek. Previously known for his role in TV’s “Mr. Robot,” Malek is electrifying and just owns every scene he’s in. Singer also brings out the heartbreak of Freddie’s situation without ever becoming maudlin. This is a film that will not only appeal to your senses, but to your heart, especially for viewers in my age demographic who lived during Queen’s early career and the Live Aid performance. Younger audiences will wish they had been there.

The real life Brian May and Roger Taylor were executive music producers on the film and Queen has never sounded better. Long time Queen manager Jim Beach produced the film. The whole package was done with love and respect. This is a glorious film, not to be missed. Let Freddie’s legacy live forever.