By Staff Writer Tighe Ratcliffe.
*Spoiler Alert*
Queen, they are Rock and Roll royalty. There are very few people who haven’t heard their music or know who they are. But not too many people know their story, until now. If you’ve been a die-hard fan of this band like myself, you’ve been impatiently waiting for the movie Bohemian Rhapsody since the first trailer appeared almost a year ago.
Without giving too much away, the movie follows Rami Malek as he portrays the rise of legendary front-man Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara). The movie starts with Mercury walking on stage of the Live Aid concert of 1985 before cutting to him un-bagging a plane, right before getting fired. We then see Mercury sharing dinner with his parents before going to see a show. There is obvious tension in the room between Mercury and his father, who is disappointed in Mercury’s decisions. And then Mercury goes to a club where he introduces himself to his future bandmates.
From there the movie picks up quickly as it shows the rise of Queen, the development and falling through of relationships, and the last 20 minutes of the film depicts the highlight of the bands career, the Live Aid concert in 1985.
One thing that concerned many fans was the early rumors that the film wouldn’t effectively depict Mercury’s sexuality. This concern was soon swept aside when a large part of the film focused on Mercury’s struggle to come to terms with his sexuality, eventually embracing who he was. Being such an influential person,
Mercury is often looked upon as a role model for many in the LGBTQ community. The movie shows the vulnerable hidden side of Mercury’s lifestyle that few saw, an alienated and isolated man who was struggling to cope with the pain in his life. It showed how many of his choices lead to a conflicted relationship with those who cared most for him, and how he began spending a large amount of time with people who did not care for him.
This all lead up to a heart-wrenching scene of Mercury standing out in the rain after the woman who was once engaged to him, Mary Austin (played by Lucy Boynton) comes to Freddie to check on him, but then quickly leaves. This is just after Mercury’s close friend and lover Paul Prenter (played by Allen Leech) comes to Mercury’s place with a bunch of other friends. Mercury and Prenter have a falling out after this because Prenter has deceived and lied to Mercury for years and lead him down to where he is now.
During all of this, Mercury realizes that he has contracted Aids and is struggling to come to terms with his life, and how he wanted to spend the rest of his days. He gets in contact with Queen’s manager to beg him to get Queen into the Live Aid concert, as well as get the band back together. Mercury reconciles with the rest of Queen and then a short time later informs them that he is dying of Aids.
There is a heartfelt moment when the band all huddle together while practicing for Live Aid after Mercury is struggling to sing. After which he informs them just give him a week to get his voice back in order and he would deliver the performance of a lifetime.
The last half hour or so of the movie then shows what happens the day of Live Aid before the concert. Mercury reconnects with Jim Hutton (played by Aaron McCusker) who ends up being Merucry’s partner for the remainder of his life.
Mercury also reconnects with his parents with Hutton in tow and promises to blow his mom a kiss during his performance. His once strained relationship with his father is repaired as well and then the film goes to the backstage of Live Aid.
The remainder of the film portrays Queens performance at the Live Aid concert beautifully, capturing every minute detail bringing the audience to that show. After seeing everything that lead up to up to that performance, you will be left speechless because Mercury’s performance becomes even more incredible and heartfelt. Queens performance at Live Aid forever solidified Mercury and Queen as true Rock and Roll royalty, and one of the greatest groups of all time. Many reviews are not saying great things about this film, but audiences everywhere are marveling at it. So please, if you love Queen as much as everyone else, please see this movie. The cast gives such a heartfelt performance, there’s drama, love, comedy, tragedy and music. Basically there’s something in this film for everyone, and by the end you’ll be waiting for the next chance to see it. The film is a true masterpiece, and is almost as legendary as Queen themselves.