Bohemian Rhapsody by Anthony McCarten - Eight out of 10

Bohemian Rhapsody by Anthony McCarten

Eight out of 10

Just as the Bohemian Rhapsody song has been controversial and at the same time a fantastic, fabulous work, the film that depicts some of the life of Queen, with special emphasis on its lead singer and showman, is provocative, intriguing and at the same disputed.

On the internet people argue over the accuracy of the film, with some – or is it multitudes? – arguing that the plot has been designed to minimize the excesses in the life of Farrokh Bulsara, with more importance given to Mary Austin than real life would suggest.

It is also tempting to citizen a certain tendency to get over melodramatic and have the cinematic Freddie Mercury sound a bit – or more – pathetic than the real rock star might have been, even if it is difficult to create a fictional personage and project him on the big screen without artistic license and eliminate various aspects of real life, for this is not a documentary.

Then there is the question of casting Rami Malek in the leading role, a very demanding one it must be emphasized, for the lead singer of Queen has been a complex, energetic, bigger than life, with a probable “reality distortion field” like the late Steve Jobs had.

The young actor seems to have adopted mannerisms, the speech pattern, attitudes, style of the celebrated, magnificent rock star and has surely done a good job, but this cinephile is not sure that overall, the performance would be a landmark, for at times, it appears to go over the top and become somewhat artificial.

The first part of the life of Farrokh Bulsara is not too prominent in the film and this might have been a good decision since audiences want to see him at his peak and in the period on his nadir, but we learn that he was born in Zanzibar, as the son of a family of Parsi – his father would explain a little the flight the Parsi had to take and then how they had to flee from the island with just the coats on their backs.

The relationship with the father has been a tense one, although towards the end the son talks about his parent‘s credo of “good thoughts, good words, good deeds” in connection with his participation in the generous, humanitarian Live Aid project, with many disagreements over the opposition between the conservative views of the religious father and the liberal perspective of the son, who would opt for a lifestyle that his father rejects.

Farrokh Bulsara works as a baggage man at Heathrow Airport, where he is insulted and called “Paki”, an abuse that would be repeated later on, when he comes to see the performance of the band that had Brian May – studying astrophysics – Roger Taylor and John Deacon.

Since their singer has just left, this is the chance for Farrokh to join it, which he proposes outside the gig, only to be rejected because of his teeth, up to the moment when the stranger starts singer and immediately convinces the musicians to adopt and welcome him in the band.

The collaboration would result in one of the most successful, outstanding rock bands in history, although the road to success has not been an easy one and at a later stage, an egotistic self-absorbed lead singer would break off to engage in a solo career, supposedly under the malefic influence of Paul Prenter, the obvious villain of this drama.

The very creative members of Queen have had to overcome various, serious obstacles on their way to the Hall of Fame, from the ridiculous rules imposed by the BBC, which insisted that performances could not be live on their programs, to the absurd three minute rule for the radio.

When the band has created the Bohemian Rhapsody, it proved to be not just a chef d’oeuvre, but also an original, provocative work which the studio executive Ray Foster dismissed and refused invoking the fact that radio stations would not air a song that is much longer than their three minute limit, but he was also negatively impressed by the lyrics – what is that? Bismillah, Scaramouche?

While they tour America, Paul Prenter first approaches Freddie Mercury – who has changed his name to the chagrin of his family – and he rejects this man, insisting that they only work together, but the latent or perhaps better-said hidden homosexuality of the star becomes apparent and the two would have an uneven, apparently unfortunate intimacy.

Freddie tries to explain this change to his wife, saying he is bisexual, something she denies, stating he is actually homosexual and one of the serious challenges in the friendship with Paul comes when this profiteer tries to separate the singer from the band, using an intermediary and provoking the first, but not the only clash with the rest of the group.

When Mercury would opt for a solo career, he would tell the others that he wants artistic freedom, that they all must have had enough of the quarrels and then “the family” is disintegrated, with Freddie being supervised and isolated by his boyfriend.

When people reach for him, the calls are taken by Paul, who always says he would let Freddie know that Mary called or somebody else, only he never does, even when Jim Beach proposes the Live Aid unique initiative, after the Bob Geldof idea.

This is the final straw and the rock star decides to end his friendship, cut all ties with the malignant Paul Prenter who has evidently abused his influence and when told he must not show his face again, tries to blackmail the singer with the things he knows, which he would indeed go on shows to reveal and benefit from.

Bohemian Rhapsody is a film to see…perhaps a must see indeed.