Bohemian Rhapsody is a biography and musical drama film written by Anthony McCarten and directed by Bryan Singer. The film depicts the extraordinary tale of the British rock band Queen.
The film features the life of Freddie Mercury/Farrokh Bulsara (Rami Malek), lead vocalist of the rock band Queen. The film starts with early years in 1970 when Freddie was just a college student working as a baggage handler at Heathrow Airport. And in the spare time, he used to watch local rock bands; in particular, a band named ‘Smile’. One night, after the show, Freddie meets Smile guitarist Brian May (Gwilym Lee) and drummer Roger Taylor (Ben Hardy), and in his peculiar ways offers to replace their lead singer. And with the addition of bassist John Deacon (Joseph Mazzello), the band known as Queen. Rest of the film follows the rise of ‘Queen’ in the world of fame with many ups and downs leading up to its legendary appearance at the Live Aid (1985) concert.
Without keeping many expectations, I had gone to watch this film, thinking that what a rock band film possibly could serve. But, believe me, besides its biographical and musical aspect, the story of the film alone is compelling and powerful enough to move you and cheer you up from inside. The film is just a perfect combination of music and biography elements, and those work really together. The film progresses smoothly and hardly feels lazy at any point. The film moves very fast by keeping ‘Mercury’ at the center(depicting his personal and sexual life) but because of the limited timeframe, the film fails to touch all the parts of the whole story.
The background score and all the songs in the film compliments the story. The performances by the actors are good, notably, Malek’s portrayal of Mercury looks authentic and commanding. The music sequences, especially the Live Aid scenes are convincingly epic. The film has become the highest-grossing musical biographical film of all-time.
Verdict : The film is compelling, enjoyable, and nostalgic treat for Queen’s fans.
Rating : 4/5
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