Bohemian Rhapsody: A Movie For The Ages

Bohemian Rhapsody is the story behind one of the best voices and inspirations of all time, Freddie Mercury. It is an incredible adventure that will make you laugh and cry.

Directed by Bryan Singer, this movie brings to life the struggles Queen’s acclaimed front man had to endure. Brilliant actors, including Rami Malek who portrays Freddie Mercury, and Ben Hardy who plays Roger Taylor, are at the forefront of this film. In fact, LHS Senior Aaron Adam, a fan of the band and the movie, says that “[Rami Malek] deserves an Oscar for this role.” Adam believes that it was put together in a way that makes it enjoyable for the generation that lived through it and one that only heard stories.

The movie follows the lead singer’s rise to stardom, presenting the struggles that accompanied him on his journey. It opens with Freddie Mercury walking onto the stage at the Live Aid event in 1985, then flashes back to the origins of the idol.

Farrokh “Freddie” Bulsara starts his career in college when he visits a bar after fighting with his parents. He sees a college band and talks with them after the show. The band immediately adores him, asking him to join them after their previous lead  left them. This is the beginning of a long career, but none of them knew it yet.

The group of three called themselves Smile and consisted of vocalist Freddie Bulsara, guitarist Brian May, and drummer Roger Taylor. They began performing in college together and their chemistry was quickly established. Bulsara took the stage as if it was his domain, dancing like no one else in his time. Smile began to get noticed more and decided a name change was necessary. Bulsara decided on Queen because “it’s outrageous and there’s no one more outrageous than [him]”. The band didn’t fight him on this because they knew how stubborn he was. From this point, everything went up for Queen. They got a record deal and began making albums while experimenting with new forms of music in the process. The story continues to follow the hardships of Bulsara – now Freddie Mercury – such as disapproving parents, overpowering egos, lying managers, disease, and, most of all, coming out as a bisexual singer.

Bohemian Rhapsody was funny, sad, and surprisingly ironic. In one scene, the band leaves their producer after a dispute about the song Bohemian Rhapsody. The ex-producer said the song will never be played on radios and the band itself would be a failure. Little did he know that the band would gain most of its fame after this song released. This type of irony and humor is presented throughout the movie and made it attractive to viewers who may not have known the true story behind the band.

The movie astounded audiences across the board, and, while many were avid Queen fans, most were ordinary people who simply enjoy a good movie. LHS Junior Christian Amor is someone who has never really been a huge Queen fan, but still enjoyed the movie. “The movie was good and seems to be relatable for our generation.” Amor continues to say that he enjoyed learning the inspiration for some of the songs. “It was interesting, more than anything, to learn about the songs.”

One fault in Bohemian Rhapsody is that the story doesn’t represent the journey in full. A lot of the story was cut out, shortened, or exaggerated  for viewing purposes. Queen fans largely disliked this action because it makes the movie less true and sugar coats the hard parts. For instance, many hardships faced by Freddie Mercury were barely touched on or were shown as less of a struggle and more of a “phase.” This was most likely done to make the movie more appealing as many would see the full story as depressing. Even so, this movie strayed from the truth enough to make it somewhat bothersome to fans.

Overall, this movie will definitely stand the test of time, playing into the memorability of Queen even more. It’s something everyone should see in the theaters to fully experience its intended format.