Tuesday 6 November 2018

Bohemian Rhapsody (2018) - Movie Review


The plot: After seeing them perform at a local nightclub, Farrokh Bulsara (Rami Malek) meets with guitarist Brian May (Gwilym Lee) and drummer Roger Taylor (Ben Hardy), whom are in need of a new vocalist as their last one just quit the band. What started that night would lead to Farrokh becoming better known as the singer Freddie Mercury, and the band becoming one of the most celebrated musical acts of all time: Queen.

Not gonna lie, knowing that Sacha Baron Cohen was once tapped to play the lead in this, part of me still wonders a bit about what might have been. Having seen Malek in the role, though, I am not too hurt by that as this is a seriously effective depiction of one of the most captivating figures in rock music. The stage presence, the cocky swagger as he walks through a room, the sharpened conviction behind his words; it is rather impressive that he managed to capture such a larger-than-life figure like this. Lee, Hardy and Joseph Mazzello as the other members of the band already win some points in that they actually stand out as characters, rather than just being sentient window-dressing, they carry off the inter-band banter very nicely. Hardy in particular leaves a good impression, which admittedly is due to him being the band’s butt monkey, but he adds quite a bit to the film’s comedic value.

Lucy Boynton as Mercury’s wife, considering how… complicated their relationship was in real life, works very well, whether she’s being cute and caring with Malek or taking the news of Mercury’s sexuality with a fair bit of strain. Have to admit, that whole scenario reads out like a recurring nightmare for bisexuals, but credit where it’s due in that it’s handled as well as it is. Tom Hollander as Jim ‘Malibu’ Beach brings some good dry humour to the proceedings, Allen Leech as Mercury’s lover Paul makes for a presence that’s honestly difficult to put into words but still feels authentic, Aidan Gillen as Queen’s manager plays to type, and an absolutely unrecognisable Mike Myers as a record executive not only makes for a good target for some of Malek’s more barbed delivery, but also the centrepiece for what might simultaneously be the best use of music, editing and non-verbal performance I’ve seen all year. No time for losers, indeed.

I’ve talked before about the narrative scope of biographic cinema, and how it is usually best to not try and cover everything, and that already puts this film somewhat at odds. The framing encompasses everything from Mercury first joining the band to their legendary performance at Live Aid; even for a film that exceeds two hours, that’s a lot to squeeze into a single film without anything losing its bite. And unfortunately, that does end up happening every so often. It does cover a lot of the required ground, from the band drama to Freddie’s personal background, but none of it feels like any thought was put into its presentation outside of “it happened”. Usually, a biopic would contextualise some of the bigger moments, treating the dramatic beats same as any other narrative film in making it tie into an aspect of the characters involved. That’s not really what we get here, which gives the film a far lighter feel than it probably should, given both the running time and the subject matter.

Of course, looking at the people attached to this, it seems like whatever expertise they were meant to bring to the table still ring through. Getting into the lengthy and frequently production history of this film would likely take up an entire article all on its own, so let’s just focus on the main three behind the scenes: Initial director Bryan Singer (AKA sexually abusive arsecandle, but let's try not to derail a review for once), clean-up batter after Singer was fired Dexter Fletcher, and writer Anthony McCarten. Singer, knowing how much gay coding played a factor in his take on the X-Men films, should mean that the lead’s sexuality would be given the authenticity it deserves, and we certainly get that. It acknowledges Mercury’s bisexuality, making it a point not to oversimplify his relationship with any of his suitors, and the fact that it didn’t go for the easy (read: He’s just gay) route makes the deft hand and occasionally complex dealing of his partners feel real.

Dexter Fletcher, who has equal experience with musically-inclined cinema (Sunshine On Leith) and biopics (Eddie The Eagle), and his involvement here likely explains the lightweight feel of the finished product. Of course, given his last film featured Hugh Jackman as Sir-Not-An-Actual-Person lighting a cigarette midway down a ski slope, I feel like I have no real means to dissect the historical inaccuracies without missing what makes that very approach work. Much like his take on Michael ‘Eddie’ Edwards, the emphasis on staying true to the person rather than the events gives the film a nice emotional push, making Malek’s portrayal of the iconic legend feel like it speaks to a certain personal truth, if not the strictest historical truth. And then there’s McCarten, who thankfully didn’t drop the ball like he did earlier this year with Darkest Hour, as the relatively brisk pace makes even the smaller moments stick and, while lacking the ideal context, at least give the vibe that we are being shown these events for a reason. And that reason is damn good music.

For a look at a band who is responsible for some of the most iconic tunes in human history, this gives a pretty solid depiction of that process. Not all that in-depth a depiction, granted, but seeing the band experimenting in the studio makes for some good sequences. Hell, when paired with John Ottman’s editing, it even allows for some decent comedy, like the numerous takes needed to make the titular song and Hardy’s increasingly high-pitched singing.

The actual music itself, though, is both a bit muddled and surprisingly seamless. To recreate Mercury’s powerhouse of a voice, part of Malek’s on-screen singing is done by him, some of it comes from the original songs with Mercury’s original vocals, and some of it comes from a completely different person entirely, that being Canadian Christian rocker Marc Martel. Now, maybe it’s because I haven’t devoted quite as much of Queen’s extensive discography to memory as most others, but the effect of having three separate voices spliced together comes across a lot better than it has any right to. And then there’s the finale, set at the Live Aid concert, which almost makes up for the lack of contextualising prior as the song picks, the stage performance, not to mention the effects work to recreate that massive crowd, all combine to give this film one hell of an ending note.

All in all, while by no means definitive, this is still quite a fun effort. The acting is good, with Rami Malek killing it as Freddie Mercury, the treatment of music works both in a cinematic context and just as a great showcasing of a great band’s work, the editing is genuinely impressive, and while it lacks a real central conceit other than depicting one of the greatest rock bands of all time, it still hits enough of the major points to make this feel like a solid dramatisation of the story. That, and it manages to portray Freddie’s sexuality in a way that doesn’t go the route that far, far too many films still do when it comes to bisexuality; that will always be worth some praise.

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