 | Genre: Biopic, Drama |
The film opens with a dramatic getting-ready scene as Mercury and the other band members prepare for the Live Aid performance. Flashing back to just before the band is formed, we slowly travel forwards again, with the Live Aid performance as the grand finale. Especially as a previous incarnation of the film, which was to star Sacha Baron Cohen, was being pushed to include his death and then go on to a second half about the rest of Queen continuing and being successful without him. Baron Cohen quit over this, and the film is far better for not lingering on AIDs and for staying entirely focused on the star himself.
Rami Malek makes an outstanding Freddie Mercury, and is also of non-Black African heritage, as his parents are both Egyptian. He does the exuberance and strong emotions justice, playing a man who is only truly alive in performance, who is emotionally in love with Mary Austin but cannot commit to her sexually and so cannot be with her. He also embodies the role of victim fantastically, with the (apparently non-verified) abusive relationship with Mercury's 'personal manager' Paul Prenter.
This relationship is insidious, manipulative and enraging to watch. Allen Leech as Prenter is a terrifyingly true to life villain, pushing people out of Mercury's life with cold and calculating capability. This may be upsetting or even triggering to people who've been in or just witnessed abusive relationships, especially as this is a real person's life story. It goes on for a while, but in a great scene, Mary shows Freddie the lies and reminds him of the people he has been pushed away from, Paul loses control and threatens Freddie, and Freddie sees everything clearly and has the strength to walk away. The only flaw with this arc, apart from the possibility that it isn't entirely true, is that he never see Prenter suffer for his abusive behaviour, even as a sad viewer of Live Aid. We do see him sell Mercury out, and his use of the slur p*ki caused an audible gasp of disgust in the cinema.
Likewise, the other band members are portrayed well. Ben Hardy as Roger Taylor, Gwilym Lee as Brian May and Joseph Mazzello as John Deacon all look the part and feel real. Taylor and May, both alive and still performing, have clearly been gracious about their portrayal. No-one comes out of this film without looking like a "dickhead", a word Mercury uses to apologise on their reunion. After the 'Queen after Freddie' version of the film, it's fantastic that they agreed to this, as it is truly an amazing biopic.
One scene that was masterful to include was Jim Hutton's meeting with Freddie Mercury. A fictionalised merging of events, he is a member of staff at Mercury's home rather than a fellow nightclub goer. Freddie is portrayed as groping him, and being truly horrified to find that his sexual advance was not wanted and an assault. Freddie Mercury, in his partying days, was by all accounts lecherous and inappropriate, but never meant to cross any lines.
To show him as desensitised to the idea of people who weren't around for sex but still a good person at heart feels important, and this fictional way to meet Hutton gives a more narrative arc for his redemption and gives us more of a feel for Hutton, who isn't given the time to develop otherwise.
Avoiding his death but giving a beginning to it feels respectful, and with even his beloved cats included this film really does include a snapshot of every Freddie Mercury fans know. Most people who listen to Queen will have a basic knowledge of his life, but there will be details here you probably didn't know. It's definitely worth the watch, whether it's an introduction to his life story or nothing new to you.
Rami Malek makes an outstanding Freddie Mercury, and is also of non-Black African heritage, as his parents are both Egyptian. He does the exuberance and strong emotions justice, playing a man who is only truly alive in performance, who is emotionally in love with Mary Austin but cannot commit to her sexually and so cannot be with her. He also embodies the role of victim fantastically, with the (apparently non-verified) abusive relationship with Mercury's 'personal manager' Paul Prenter.
This relationship is insidious, manipulative and enraging to watch. Allen Leech as Prenter is a terrifyingly true to life villain, pushing people out of Mercury's life with cold and calculating capability. This may be upsetting or even triggering to people who've been in or just witnessed abusive relationships, especially as this is a real person's life story. It goes on for a while, but in a great scene, Mary shows Freddie the lies and reminds him of the people he has been pushed away from, Paul loses control and threatens Freddie, and Freddie sees everything clearly and has the strength to walk away. The only flaw with this arc, apart from the possibility that it isn't entirely true, is that he never see Prenter suffer for his abusive behaviour, even as a sad viewer of Live Aid. We do see him sell Mercury out, and his use of the slur p*ki caused an audible gasp of disgust in the cinema.
Likewise, the other band members are portrayed well. Ben Hardy as Roger Taylor, Gwilym Lee as Brian May and Joseph Mazzello as John Deacon all look the part and feel real. Taylor and May, both alive and still performing, have clearly been gracious about their portrayal. No-one comes out of this film without looking like a "dickhead", a word Mercury uses to apologise on their reunion. After the 'Queen after Freddie' version of the film, it's fantastic that they agreed to this, as it is truly an amazing biopic.
One scene that was masterful to include was Jim Hutton's meeting with Freddie Mercury. A fictionalised merging of events, he is a member of staff at Mercury's home rather than a fellow nightclub goer. Freddie is portrayed as groping him, and being truly horrified to find that his sexual advance was not wanted and an assault. Freddie Mercury, in his partying days, was by all accounts lecherous and inappropriate, but never meant to cross any lines.
To show him as desensitised to the idea of people who weren't around for sex but still a good person at heart feels important, and this fictional way to meet Hutton gives a more narrative arc for his redemption and gives us more of a feel for Hutton, who isn't given the time to develop otherwise.
Avoiding his death but giving a beginning to it feels respectful, and with even his beloved cats included this film really does include a snapshot of every Freddie Mercury fans know. Most people who listen to Queen will have a basic knowledge of his life, but there will be details here you probably didn't know. It's definitely worth the watch, whether it's an introduction to his life story or nothing new to you.
