BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY is THE cinematic experience of the year! A fully sensory explosion of movies and music and mastery. Rami Malek is beyond Oscar-worthy. And if an Oscar were to be given for casting, hand it to Susie Figgis now.
The talk of town for more than a few years now has been the making of a Queen biopic and it’s frontman Freddie Mercury. But as so often happens when true movie magic is about to happen, Fate and the movie gods know more than mere mortals and put up obstacles preventing production until just the perfect moment. For BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY, that perfect moment arrived when Rami Malek entered the picture. As Freddie Mercury, Malek’s performance is transcendent.
Let’s back up a bit for those not in the know wondering just who or what is Queen. Queen is a British rock band founded in 1970 when a young Farrokh “Freddie” Bulsara (lead vocals, piano) joined Brian May (lead guitar, vocals) and Roger Taylor (drums, vocals) who had been performing in a group called Smile of which Freddie was a huge fan. It wasn’t long before John Deacon (bass guitar) also came onboard. Freddie was a man of vision; a lot of vision. He encouraged the group to change their name to “Queen”, and it was Freddie who channeled, often conceived, and inspired the explosive stage presence Queen became known for, as well as pushing the music envelope and creativity of his bandmates by mixing genres and experimenting with musical instrumentation and recording techniques taking music and performance to new heights. By 1975 Queen gained international acclaim with their album “A Night At The Opera” which featured one of their signature songs, “Bohemian Rhapsody” (long considered by many to be autobiographical of Freddie). Musically, the rest, as they say, is history. The world saw, heard and championed the fruits of their labors, most notably culminating on July 13, 1985 when they appeared at Wembley Stadium in London for Bob Geldof’s Live Aid concert. 130,000 in the stadium. Billions watching on television. In that moment, they were truly the champions of the world and rock gods. But it’s all the stuff in-between and behind the scenes on the journey that made Queen what it was and Freddie Mercury who he was that BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY delivers.
Bookending the film with Queen’s Live Aid performance, opening the film as a tease but closing with a spellbinding extended exacting recreation of Queen’s performance set (the Wembley stage itself was built to the exact specifications of the original Live Aid stage, just adding to the magic), directors Bryan Singer and Dexter Fletcher transport us. While Singer gets directing credit, many may recall he left the production more than halfway through filming only to be replaced by Fletcher.
Presenting in chronological linear fashion, we go back to 1970 and the initial meeting of Brian May and Roger Taylor with Freddie Mercury and go from there. It’s easy to see the chemistry between this little group of “misfits” which only builds over time, especially with the introduction of John Deacon into the mix. We see a real family form. Concurrently, we are privy to Freddie’s somewhat turbulent family life due to disapproval by his father, unconditional love from his mother who is a by-product of estrangement, his sexual ambiguity, and the constants in his life beyond the band – the love of his life, Mary Austin, and his cats. And then we see the resulting collateral damage. It’s thanks to these dramatic conflicts that the real emotionality of BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY unfolds, especially when in the hands of Rami Malek. And through it all, the timeline is marked by Queen’s music.
Written by Anthony McCarten from a story co-written by Peter Morgan, the script hits all the right notes in terms of Queen’s history and rise to the top of rock royalty, albeit some a bit superficial, concurrently delivering oft overlooked minutiae and providing ample time for each of the band members and influencing factors and people around them. Missing though is greater exploration into creating the “sound” of Queen. McCarten more than services the personal story of Freddie Mercury, from his sexuality and sexual orientation and his love for Mary to his diagnosis of AIDS. And while there will undoubtedly be some naysayers malcontent with the discussion of the latter, bear in mind that the film essentially ends in 1985 with Live Aid. Although Freddie apparently exhibited early signs of the disease in 1982 and reportedly saw a doctor, his diagnosis wasn’t officially made or reported until 1987. It’s here where the writers perhaps took some liberty as Freddie reveals to the band, after some estrangement and immediately before Live Aid, that he was dying. Could more depth and exploration been paid to these once tabloid fodder topics? Of course. But how would that have impacted the overall story of Queen in BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY? It’s a fine line to walk for a filmmaker.
But the success of BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY, beyond the constant play of Queen music (Brian May and Roger Taylor are executive producers and worked closely with cast and crew), be it in concert or studio sessions lies within its production prowess and the individual performances and none moreso than Rami Malek.
No words can fully describe what Malek brings to life as Freddie Mercury. For my money, hand him the Best Actor Academy Award now. He is transformative and transcendent. Thanks to working with movement coach Polly Bennett, he has a fluidity of body that allows him to capture the physicality of Mercury to a tee; from arm sweeps and reach to his peacock strut to the hard line edginess that comes with thrusting a mic stand in performance. Flawless. But with Malek it’s not all about the physicality. It’s the emotionality that comes from within and through his eyes. Cinematographer Tom Sigel’s camera knows a good thing when he sees it and watching what Malek does to express emotion with his eyes is akin to a master class in acting. There are moments of joy and a wide-eyed glint that shine. On the flip side, there is the embarrassment or humility at seeking forgiveness for certain actions with a downward look and fluttering of eyelashes trying to hold back tears, or the sadness both in his eyes and body at seeing Mary with another man. Malek’s heart is captured in his eyes. His vocal inflection and tonal cadence shows just another masterful side of performance as that is where much of Mercury’s bravura arises in the way he speaks about himself. Listen closely and you can hear the timbre of the voice masking insecurities from within or filled with exuberance and joy. Malek has overlooked nothing in bringing Freddie Mercury to life. We see and feel the flamboyance, the failures, the fame, the heart.
Hand in hand with Malek’s level of excellence is that of Gwilym Lee as Brian May, Ben Hardy as Roger Taylor, and Joe Mazzello as John Deacon. Watching Lee as May will have you doing double takes time and again wondering if Brian May just stepped into a wayback machine. Not only is the resemblance between Lee and May remarkable, but watch Lee in performance mode. His hold of the guitar and stage movement is reminiscent of May. Beyond that he has the soft-spoken manner we have come to see from May over the decades. Similarly with Hardy and Mazzello. As stated at the top, if an Oscar would be given for casting, it should go to Susie Figgis.
Then toss in Lucy Boynton as Mary Austin. She brings a grounding and softness not only to the film as a whole but to Freddie Mercury thanks to the chemistry between Freddie and Mary. Tom Hollander as Jim “Miami” Beach adds many moments of laughter thanks to deadpan one-liners and exasperation with the boys and their need for perfection. And don’t overlook Dermot Murphy in a brief appearance as Bob Geldof in the third act. Aiden Gillen as John Reid and Allen Leech as Paul Prenter are equally critical to the mesh of personalities in the world of Queen.
One of the most impressive aspects of BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY is Tom Sigel’s cinematography and the film’s visual tonal bandwidth which not only echoes the meteoric rise of Queen but the genius and internal conflict and ambiguity of Freddie Mercury. Reflecting the aesthetic changes of pop culture from the early days 70’s through the glam rock years and into the 80’s and culminating with Live Aid, lighting and lensing dazzles, most notably with the concert set pieces.
Contrasting the electrifying and cutting-edge stylization of the concert lighting is the vibrancy of the clubs frequented by Freddie in the 80’s awash with the rich red lighting and pops of color underneath the red. While ambient, it also metaphorically yells out “stop”. Lighting and lensing Freddie’s mansion is almost magical, yet there is an intimacy in his piano room with the Tiffany lamp by the window as he clicks it on and off signaling Mary, like a little boy with a tin can and thread would do with his BFF next door. The warmth of Freddie’s parents home is welcoming, inviting, cozy, but given what Malek brings to Freddie through performance, we can feel the claustrophobic nature of the home from his perspective. A delicate visual balancing act that works in tandem with Malek’s performance. Notable are significant moments where the lighting matches the musical beats, creating a visual lyricism which editor John Ottman further implements with his cuts, dissolves, creating an almost hypnotic emotional experience.
A playground for a cinematographer like Sigel, BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY gave him a chance to spread his already wide-spanned wings and match the creativity of Queen’s own stage production values with his own and he more than meets the challenge. While embracing Queen’s innovative concert production values, Sigel takes them to new heights here, making full use of stages and camera movement. And don’t look for a shot for shot Live Aid set-up. While the stage is identical, the performance the same, Sigel takes the camera behind the scenes giving us a peek into what was happening before Queen rocked the world at Wembley. The camera lets the audience be part of that magic.
Two other significant parts of the production aspect of the film come with Julian Day’s costume design and Aaron Haye’s production design. As for Day, his work here could bring him a long overdue Oscar nomination. Delving into Queen’s archives of files and photographs, as well as being able to use some of Brian May’s original costumes, Day works wonders. Starting with a muted color palette of the early 70’s and moving into the late 70’s with richer tones, and ultimately the more neon and saturated period of the 80’s, not only is each stage costume for the band telling but so are the costumes for supporting players in defining each of their characters. The fabrics themselves play a huge part in defining each of the characters, particularly Freddie. It was only in the 70’s when stretch fabrics like lycra and Qiana were invented, revolutionizing the fashion industry, and became the basis for many of Freddie’s outfits in order to allow for his movement. With that in mind, here Day incorporates a lot of stretch satins, silks, and velvets available today which allow not only for movement but play well with lighting as is readily seen thanks to Sigel’s magnificent lighting and lensing. While stage outfits are not exact duplicates of those worn in real life by Freddie, the basic designs are true to the originals and serve as perfect visual touchstones for the audience. Two of the most telling outfits in the film couldn’t be more different, yet more impactful – Freddie’s ermine-trimmed red velvet cape, military jacket and crown and then his Live Aid outfit. Signature pieces that are a joy to see.
Also standout is costuming for Boynton’s character of Mary, who at the time worked for the high fashion store Biba, not to mention the bespoke looks for Tom Hollander’s Beach.
Working in tandem with Day is Aaron Haye who delivers outstanding production design, be it for the multiple concert stage sets, Freddie’s mansion (with a room for every cat!), Freddie’s parents home or even Freddie’s first apartment with Mary. Utilizing color as the unifying element between costume and set, each set informs not only individual characters but the film as a whole. From the design of each time period to the socio-economic status of people like Freddie’s parents and most particularly to the conflict and ambiguity within Freddie (the warmth of the piano room in his mansion with that single Tiffany lamp at the window versus the high ceiling white-walled look of the foyer and living room), each piece of design is purposeful and telling.
And yes, the film plays like a Queen Greatest Hits album thanks to Executive Music Producers May and Taylor.
But at the end of the day what truly makes BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY soar is the emotional depth of Freddie Mercury the man and details of his life brought to life through the introspective performance by Malek, celebrating the very essence of Queen, its music, and the misfits who became a family for the misfits of the world.
Directed by Bryan Singer
Written by Anthony McCarten with story by McCarten and Peter Morgan.
Cast: Rami Malek, Gwilym Lee, Ben Hardy, Joe Mazzello, Lucy Boynton, Tom Hollander, Aiden Gillen, Allen Leech
by debbie elias, 10/12/2018
