Peter Fenzel, Mark Lee, and Matthew Wrather want to find them somebody to love, but it’s probably not this movie. We talk mostly about the problems with Bohemian Rhapsody, as we overthink a film that works very hard to jam its subject into a conventional mold, but for all that ends up all the more confounding to interpretation.
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Further Reading
- Bohemian Rhapsody: Wikipedia, IMDb
- Queen at Live Aid
- Freddie Mercury on Wikipedia
- Headbanging
- Film class: Longtime Companion, Derek Jarman, Edward II, Blue
As I have not seen this film, all I have to offer to your Bohemian Rhapsody discourse is the Muppet Rendition:
https://youtu.be/op7jk_mL30w
Apologies, that video freezes up. Try this:
https://youtu.be/tgbNymZ7vqY
So, I saw this movie knowing next to nothing about the actual history of Queen, and only slightly cognizant of Freddie Mercury aside from that he was an incredibly gifted vocalist who died of AIDs. I enjoyed this movie. Though I am the guy who thought Russell Crowe was fine in Les Miserable.
I did wonder after it ended what was factual about it, but I realized I didn’t care. If I was more invested in the subject matter, I might have more objections, but I’m not, so I didn’t.
My friend, who wanted to see the film said Queen was his favorite band and his response was “It was exactly what I wanted.” I did not inquire as to what that was.
Whoever put the movie together did a good job, because the band broke up, reunited and reaffirmed their relationship to each other, then put on a big show where the protagonist performs his all and the audience has the dramatic irony of knowing that he’s dying.
I got emotional and teared up during the Live Aid performance without really understanding why, but I also knew that I could count on Matt to mention something about the music emotionally manipulating the audience come Monday.
I haven’t seen the movie, so I think that what we’ve really learned, here, is that Highlander is the Axis Mundi around which everything is a mere carousel horse. And in the time of the Gathering, all will fight to try and reach the axis, and there can be only one, and that one will be (calling it now) The Brady Brides.
The discussion around the movie, though, reminds me of all the movies that have a dual purpose, whether that’s as a biography or carrying a franchise forward or something else entirely. It seems like there are teams that are well-suited for one aspect, but not the others. And…I don’t know where I was going with that, honestly. Maybe suggesting that studios not hire those people? Eh.