ON BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY
Hello there! Today I'm about to make a critic of a film that I watched on Monday. And this film is Bohemian Rhapsody, the Queen biopic, where Rami Malek is starring, as Freddie Mercury. Well, I've been a great fan of Queen, since I was 9 and when I was young I used to boast that I knew every single detail of their lives. To my view, the film was OK, concerning the cast and production. Indeed, Rami Malek could perfectly imitate Freddie Mercury and I don't think anybody else can do that. Also Brian May actor looked really like Brian May himself!
However, the details of the story were completely inaccurate and the chronological order of the facts was completely jumbled. Right from the beginning, you can see Freddie in 1970 fighting with his father in order to get out of the house. Well, I don't think that a 24-year old man would have to deal with those family problems. What is more, Freddie wasn't living with his parents at that time. In the next scene, we watch him going to a local club to see a concert of Smile, a student group consisting of guitarist Brian May, drummer Roger Taylor and bassist & vocalist Tim Staffell. Staffell leaves the group the same night to join a band called Humpy Bong. Freddie listens to their dialogue and asks them to join their group, however what they say is "Not with those teeth, mate". And then he starts singing their "Doin' Alright" song and they become astonished. Ok, now all that stuff is a myth! The true story is that Freddie -then known as Freddie Bulsara- was studying graphics in Ealing College along with Tim Staffell. Tim introduced him to Brian and Roger during one of Smile's rehearsals and since he became a follower of the band. Freddie had known Smile for about 2 years, before Queen was formed. Before Queen formation, Freddie had been in 3 other bands, where he was the lead singer. And when Tim left Smile, in order to join Humpy Bong, Freddie called the other 2 guys and asked them to form a band with him. Now, as far as the teeth scene is concerned, they never criticised Freddie for his teeth. In the movie, he replies "My four extra teeth give me more range". This is not something he told them, but from his PA Peter Freestone we know that he was afraid of having his teeth fixed, because he thought that surgery would affect his voice.
Next Smile, who suddenly have changed the band's name into Queen, play at a club with Freddie in vocals, plus bassist John Deacon. In that gig, Freddie discover for the first time his trademark with the half microphone stand. Wrong! The band's name was discussed after the 3 of them decided to form a NEW band, not continue the old one with another vocalist. And John Deacon was the 4th bass player of the band, after Tim Staffell's departure. He joined a year after Queen's formation. About the mic stand, this is something that happened prior to Queen, at a gig with his second band, where the mic accidentally fell off its base.
Bohemian Rhapsody shows that the same night that Freddie watches Queen, he meets Mary Austin and her friend tells him she works in Biba. In fact, he met Mary thanks to Brian, as he previously was dating her and introduced her to Freddie. In the film, he invites Mary and the band at his family house where he claims that his surname now is "Mercury" and his dad replies "Now the family name isn't good enough for you?". Well, in fact, he changed his surname after a song he had written "My Fairy King", where it goes "Mother Mercury, look what they've done to me" claiming that "Mother Mercury" was his own mother.
The scene with Freddie proposing to Mary is not true either. After a passionate moment, he proposes to her giving her a ring on its box. Well, the truth is that he proposed to Mary on Christmas Day 1974 giving her a Babushka-like box. (In case you don't know what Babushka is: this is a big Russian doll which contains another doll inside and another inside and another and so on, until the doll is very small). The last box had a ring and he then told her "Will you marry me?"
There are also several other scenes in Bohemian Rhapsody that have never happened in real life. Ray Foster was never a Queen producer, who was against the release of Bohemian Rhapsody. On the contrary, the film doesn't show the band's argument with manager Norman Sheffield. In general, the chronological order is jumbled. Queen released We Will Rock You in 1977, not the 80s. Freddie didn't meet Paul Prenter in 1975. Queen never broke up really, but prior to Live Aid they focused on their solo recordings. Last, but not least, Freddie didn't know he had AIDS in Live Aid and he told Queen in about 1989.
Overall I noticed that the film didn't focus that much in Freddie's sexual life. Well, what I mean is that (as a Canadian friend once told me) Freddie was a very important figure in LGBTQ+ community. This film hasn't shown anything of that and it only focuses on telling what a sexual beast and full of sarcasm person he was. He might have been like that, indeed, but I think it would be very important to show more about his preferences, as we live in a super homophobic society. I mean it'd give a message to all those people who are afraid to show themselves.
Anyway, I can't say that I didn't enjoy the film. And the main reason lies on my huge love for Queen, since my childhood. Also, as I already said the actors were amazing and they know exactly how to show the feelings and the whole mood of the band.
However, the details of the story were completely inaccurate and the chronological order of the facts was completely jumbled. Right from the beginning, you can see Freddie in 1970 fighting with his father in order to get out of the house. Well, I don't think that a 24-year old man would have to deal with those family problems. What is more, Freddie wasn't living with his parents at that time. In the next scene, we watch him going to a local club to see a concert of Smile, a student group consisting of guitarist Brian May, drummer Roger Taylor and bassist & vocalist Tim Staffell. Staffell leaves the group the same night to join a band called Humpy Bong. Freddie listens to their dialogue and asks them to join their group, however what they say is "Not with those teeth, mate". And then he starts singing their "Doin' Alright" song and they become astonished. Ok, now all that stuff is a myth! The true story is that Freddie -then known as Freddie Bulsara- was studying graphics in Ealing College along with Tim Staffell. Tim introduced him to Brian and Roger during one of Smile's rehearsals and since he became a follower of the band. Freddie had known Smile for about 2 years, before Queen was formed. Before Queen formation, Freddie had been in 3 other bands, where he was the lead singer. And when Tim left Smile, in order to join Humpy Bong, Freddie called the other 2 guys and asked them to form a band with him. Now, as far as the teeth scene is concerned, they never criticised Freddie for his teeth. In the movie, he replies "My four extra teeth give me more range". This is not something he told them, but from his PA Peter Freestone we know that he was afraid of having his teeth fixed, because he thought that surgery would affect his voice.
Next Smile, who suddenly have changed the band's name into Queen, play at a club with Freddie in vocals, plus bassist John Deacon. In that gig, Freddie discover for the first time his trademark with the half microphone stand. Wrong! The band's name was discussed after the 3 of them decided to form a NEW band, not continue the old one with another vocalist. And John Deacon was the 4th bass player of the band, after Tim Staffell's departure. He joined a year after Queen's formation. About the mic stand, this is something that happened prior to Queen, at a gig with his second band, where the mic accidentally fell off its base.
Bohemian Rhapsody shows that the same night that Freddie watches Queen, he meets Mary Austin and her friend tells him she works in Biba. In fact, he met Mary thanks to Brian, as he previously was dating her and introduced her to Freddie. In the film, he invites Mary and the band at his family house where he claims that his surname now is "Mercury" and his dad replies "Now the family name isn't good enough for you?". Well, in fact, he changed his surname after a song he had written "My Fairy King", where it goes "Mother Mercury, look what they've done to me" claiming that "Mother Mercury" was his own mother.
The scene with Freddie proposing to Mary is not true either. After a passionate moment, he proposes to her giving her a ring on its box. Well, the truth is that he proposed to Mary on Christmas Day 1974 giving her a Babushka-like box. (In case you don't know what Babushka is: this is a big Russian doll which contains another doll inside and another inside and another and so on, until the doll is very small). The last box had a ring and he then told her "Will you marry me?"
There are also several other scenes in Bohemian Rhapsody that have never happened in real life. Ray Foster was never a Queen producer, who was against the release of Bohemian Rhapsody. On the contrary, the film doesn't show the band's argument with manager Norman Sheffield. In general, the chronological order is jumbled. Queen released We Will Rock You in 1977, not the 80s. Freddie didn't meet Paul Prenter in 1975. Queen never broke up really, but prior to Live Aid they focused on their solo recordings. Last, but not least, Freddie didn't know he had AIDS in Live Aid and he told Queen in about 1989.
Overall I noticed that the film didn't focus that much in Freddie's sexual life. Well, what I mean is that (as a Canadian friend once told me) Freddie was a very important figure in LGBTQ+ community. This film hasn't shown anything of that and it only focuses on telling what a sexual beast and full of sarcasm person he was. He might have been like that, indeed, but I think it would be very important to show more about his preferences, as we live in a super homophobic society. I mean it'd give a message to all those people who are afraid to show themselves.
Anyway, I can't say that I didn't enjoy the film. And the main reason lies on my huge love for Queen, since my childhood. Also, as I already said the actors were amazing and they know exactly how to show the feelings and the whole mood of the band.
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