“A Wave of Love to the Diversity of Emotions”
Bohemian Rhapsody which chronicles the rise of the band Queen and its lead singer, Freddie Mercury is a sparkling frameless window into a past that still feels like yesterday. How much of that window is true has been the constant complaint of critics, all over? While I can understand why critics feel certain areas ought to have been handled differently, the film I just saw is eternally incapable of being less powerful, extraordinary and beautiful.
If Rami Malek wasn’t born to play Freddie Mercury, it’s because he is Mercury reincarnated. From the way he moves on stage to the pace in which he sings to the quality of his singing voice and to the look in his eyes when in a state of victory, one’s sanity may slip a little and actually question whether or not Mercury is really dead. Malik is that believable. Malek ought to get as much sleep as he can now because his career will not be slowing down any time soon, as his talent is too immortal to be ignored. The energy he brings in this film tells me he’s strong enough to give epic performances regularly and that is why at 37 years old, he is at the tip and peak of becoming one of the greatest actors of all time.
I’ve seen a lot of remarkable chemistry between actors this year and Malik’s chemistry with Lucy Boynton’s Mary Austin (Mercury’s former wife and closest friend) is forever placed in the top five. The fire with which their chemistry is lit is so bright, not even a tsunami could put it out. Perhaps this is because Boynton is just as passionate an actor as Malik. She comes from such a place of goodness because she never ventures from it, as it is her home to shower undying talent to the roles, she chooses so carefully as though she’s picking a rose from a thorn filled bush. The other actors seemed to be as good as they needed to be for a film this extreme but ultimately, this is Malik and Boynton’s film.
As for the music of Bohemian Rhapsody, let me just say that if the film had been out during the time of Queen and you were someone who couldn’t get a concert ticket, you could easily just watch the film as Queen is music so iconic, I question whether or not messing it up is possible. Particularly with the Live Aid concert scene as I feared that such an iconic moment in history would be rushed as it doesn’t take much to predict this event is at the end of the film. My mind is put at rest as the concert seemed to go exactly as it did on that beautiful time changing day in 1985. It brought so many people together and I feel the film does its justice. The best films are the ones you lose yourself in watching. Losing all sense of where you are, and your entire focus is to what’s at hand. Without a doubt, I lost myself to Bohemian Rhapsody. At the end of the day, people make music to make other people feel and this movie is a wave of love to the diversity of emotions.
Though society has much further to go in terms of equality for the LGBTQ community, I do so deeply wish Mercury was still here to see how far we’ve come. Despite all the backlash the films gotten, I truly do believe in my heart that Mercury would be proud of the precious gem of a film I was fortunate enough to have witnessed today.