The artistic commentary in "Bohemian Rhapsody" tends towards a knowing wink-wink at the audience. Some films-like " Love & Mercy" and " I'm Not There"-move away from the biopic approach altogether, and attempt to grapple with the subject matter as artists. " I Saw the Light" was far more interested in Hank Williams' drug addiction than in what he actually did in country music that was so groundbreaking. In the film, their artistic journey is boiled down into on-the-nose statements like, "We'll mix genres and cross boundaries!" Do rock stars speak like this? The genesis of some of their biggest hits-"Bohemian Rhapsody," "Another One Bites the Dust," "We Will Rock You"-are treated in a cursory manner, with very little insight provided into an actual creative process.īiopics tend towards the "sensational," making the mistake of thinking that the most interesting thing about James Brown, for example, is his personal life, when why we care about James Brown is his music. Next thing you know, they're Queen, and they're touring the world. Next thing you know, he makes his debut with them, and, except for one catcall of "Paki," Freddie and his flamboyant movements goes over really well. They just lost their lead singer, and Mercury has written a song he wants to show them. Freddie is shown approaching a band he likes backstage at a club in London. Opening and closing with Queen's triumphant performance at Live Aid in 1985, the film shows (sort of) the transformation of shy buck-toothed Farrokh Bulsara, the closeted son of Parsis parents, into the strutting swaggering Freddie Mercury. We are meant to side with the band members, we are meant to look at Freddie with the same discomfort about him acting so, well, gay. Freddie needs the stability of his (married, straight) band members to counteract the SUPER gay world he's living in." I struggled with this scene, I tried to give the filmmakers the benefit of the doubt. "Bohemian Rhapsody"-written by Anthony McCarten (" The Theory of Everything", " Darkest Hour") and directed by Bryan Singer (with uncredited director Dexter Fletcher, who took over after Singer was fired)-wants me to watch the costume ball scene and think, "Wow, I'm scared for Freddie. The more I think about this scene-the problems of which could fill an entire dissertation-the angrier I get.
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