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<\/a><\/p>\nAnother year, another biopic.<\/p>\n
My views on biopics have been extensively aired on this blog and elsewhere. There are two different issues. One is that the cradle-to-grave approach almost always results in a piece of filmmaking which is very diligent at recording facts about a person\u2019s life, but often rather poor at shedding any real light on who they were, and as a result fairly unengaging and uninvolving. See for example Chaplin<\/em>, The Theory of Everything<\/em><\/a>, Behind the Candelabra<\/em> and so on. Even limiting the scope of the storytelling to a more pertinent and manageable timeframe doesn\u2019t always rid the piece of the stench of animated Wikipedia entry \u2013 step forward Darkest Hour<\/em><\/a>, but better biopics do tend to dramatize key events and trust that enough light will be shed to illuminate a whole career \u2013 Stan & Ollie<\/em><\/a> manages this quite well for example.<\/p>\n Then there\u2019s the issue of accuracy. A movie is not a text book. It\u2019s not required that a biopic be fanatically faithful to the source material. Argo<\/em><\/a> is largely a figment of the writers\u2019 imaginations, but it\u2019s a splendidly entertaining piece of cinema entertainment. The Death of Stalin<\/em> is surprisingly accurate but will move events around if it makes the story more compelling. What\u2019s always frustrating is when the true facts are ignored, but the new version is less interesting than the truth \u2013 or in the case of the wretched The Imitation Game<\/em><\/a>, the story as presented makes little to no actual sense.<\/p>\n Bohemian Rhapsody<\/em> might have done better to zero in on some key moments. The recording of Queen\u2019s first studio album and their signing with EMI, or the writing of their seminal Night at the Opera album which included the title song, could easily have filled two hours. As it is, neither is on screen for longer than about two minutes, while the band\u2019s entire 20 minute Live Aid set is forensically recreated at the end of the film.<\/p>\n But while it does often suffer from the rapidly moving from event to event malaise detailed above, when it does pause for breath, there are some effective scenes, and there is an arc of sorts to Freddie Mercury\u2019s life. But while some significant events have been moved around to try and accommodate this, it still doesn\u2019t quite cohere as a story. I won\u2019t go through the whole film, but let me pick two scenes to show you what I mean.<\/p>\n After spending weeks writing and recording A Night at the Opera, in relative seclusion, the band present their work to (fictional) EMI chief Ray Foster, improbably played by Mike Myers, and they insist that Bohemian Rhapsody be released as the single. We\u2019ve seen the band have a few minor squabbles during the recording, but we\u2019ve seen much more of them working together as a unit, and in front of their record exec, they present a united front. This might sound less than dramatic, but the creative process is an interesting one (if sometimes hard to recreate on screen) and I greatly prefer it to the clich\u00e9 of the band torn apart by creative differences. However, this scene appears only to allow Mike Myers to tell Queen that no-one will be headbanging in their car when listening to this song. Freddy Mercury storms out, telling Myers he will be the person who lost Queen.<\/p>\n Did the band members blame Mercury for this? Did they have to get a new record deal? Who with? Was Ray Foster forced to come crawling back on bended knee? None of these questions is ever addressed. Why have a scene in which a band quits their record label if you aren\u2019t going to follow it up? Mercury slips the single to Kenny Everett who plays it on Capital Radio and the screen fills up with negative reviews it got in the press. Did this affect Mercury? Sap his confidence? We have no idea, because the next time we see him, he\u2019s on-stage performing the songs to thousands of screaming fans. I know this film switched directors in mid-stream, but it seems to have been edited almost at random.<\/p>\n Later, with Live Aid looming, the band has a tense meeting in their lawyer\u2019s office. Freddy Mercury\u2019s solo career is not proving to be fulfilling, and he loves the idea of performing at Wembley. But the band hasn\u2019t played together in over a year, and there\u2019s no trust left between Mercury and the other three. Now, let\u2019s just ignore the fact that not a single word of the foregoing actually happened. Does it work as drama? Well, not really. Mercury is forced to confess that going solo didn\u2019t work because he hired good people, told them what to do and they did it. He didn\u2019t get any pushback from Brian, Roger and John, like he used. Fine. But as I\u2019ve said, we basically didn\u2019t see that ever. We generally saw the band collaborating and embracing each other\u2019s ideas.<\/p>\n The other three agree to the reunion, but they insist that this time all the songs they write are to be credited just to Queen, not to any individual. But again, we haven\u2019t witnessed any credit wrangles, and we don\u2019t see them writing any more material after this. The whole film is like this. Bits and pieces of story material that sounds as if it ought to have some kind of dramatic power but it doesn\u2019t hang together properly.<\/p>\n Amongst it all, Rami Malek is outstanding. His large head makes him look rather slight and stocky compared to the rangy and athletic Mercury, but in fact they are nearly the same height, and in all other ways, he absolutely personifies Mercury\u2019s energy, performing chutzpah and unique take on the world. Gwilym Lee also makes an impression as the ever-patient, wryly long-suffering Brian May, but there\u2019s little Ben Hardy and Joe Mazzello can do to elevate Roger and John beyond the level of \u201cthe other two\u201d.<\/p>\n Lucy Boynton does what she can with Mary, Freddy\u2019s girlfriend, and it\u2019s always a pleasure to see Tom Hollander. Bryan Singer or Dexter Fletcher or Newton Thomas Siegel or John Ottman or someone has made it always interesting to look at with some bravura shots that don\u2019t feel too distracting, and \u2013 as mentioned \u2013 the Live Aid recreation at the end is spectacular, if a little light on story \u2013 and of course the music is amazing. But this is pretty sloppy work to be getting a Best Picture nomination ahead of If Beale Street Could Talk<\/em><\/a> or, for that matter, the far more interesting Sorry to Bother You<\/em>.<\/p>\nGreen Book<\/h3>\n
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