Month: December 2018

(l to r) John Deacon, Freddie Mercury, Brian May and Roger Taylor.

BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY

Film Review by Marlene Ardoin

If you haven’t already seen “Bohemian Rhapsody” yet, this is my film recommendation for the Holidays.

“Bohemian Rhapsody” captures the heart of Freddie Mercury’s (Rami Malek) artistic challenge as an artist, as a son, as a man and as a singing frontman of a band. Below, I’ve included the full Live Aid Concert, which was his crowning achievement.

One of many poignant parts of this film, was his relationship with his father, Bomi Rustomji Bulsara (Ace Bhatti).

Mercury felt that he could never be the son that he thought his father wanted, so he made the drastic decision to legally change his name, so he would not reflect negatively upon his father or his heritage.

The film suggests that he may have been ashamed of his heritage, but after studying his family dynamics, I feel that it had more to do with expressing himself independently from what his family expected of him.

If Mercury was ashamed of anything, it was the overlap of his teeth, and then, his growing awareness of his gay, bisexual identity, at a time when being a gay minority was cruelly punished and conformity was the norm.

At an early age, before his jaw could catch up to his extra teeth, he was sent to an Indian boarding school, where he took advantage of the freedom to pursue his own interests, like learning to play the piano, singing and creating a band.

He was summoned back to Zanzibar at age 16, when his father made the equally drastic decision to flee to Great Britain during the Indian revolution.

It was only late in the film that Mercury begins to appreciate the choices that his father made, and this realization is heart wrenching.

The other looming character in Mercury’s life was Mary Austin (Lucy Boynton). Mercury lived with Austin for about seven years, when he was a starving artist, trying to create a professional band. She loved him unconditionally, and remained a lifelong friend, making him a godfather of her first son, before Mercury died of AIDS.

There was evidence of stress and a self-destructive tendency in Mercury. If you look at any of his few interviews, he appears to be a chain smoker. He has a cigarette in one hand and a drink in the other. He discovers too late, who his real friends were, and did not have a strong spiritual practice, although he was raised as a Zoroastrian.

Mercury was a cat lover, which provided him with the unconditional love that was low-maintenance. He would have loved to have had children with Austin, but his career was too demanding in the early days, and they barely had enough to eat themselves.

Had Mercury received voice training and early support for his aspirations, he might even have become an operatic singer. In fact, his last live concert is with Montserrat Caballe, who invited him to write songs and to create a concert with her (see Barcelona concert below). Mercury rose to the occasion, and appears to be surrounded by a healing light.

Interestingly, the film’s title is “Bohemian Rhapsody,” which was Mercury’s attempt at creating an operatic song, which was six minutes long.

When Mercury died of AIDS, he shook up the world from the ignorant realization that AIDS is not a gay disease, but can be acquired in heterosexual relationships, as well as by blood transfusions.

Director Bryan Singer almost completed this film, before he was replaced at the very end, for being unreliable. In my research, I discovered that Singer is also bisexual, like Mercury. Turns out, he was busy trying, at the time, to become a father himself. His son is now about three years old.

Farrokh Bulsara (5 September 1946 – 24 November 1991), known professionally as Freddie Mercury, died in 1991 at age 45 due to complications from AIDS.

On 27 November, Mercury’s funeral service at West London Crematorium was conducted by a Zoroastrian priest. In attendance at Mercury’s service were his family and 35 of his close friends, including the remaining members of Queen and Elton John.

In his will, Mercury left the vast majority of his wealth, including his home and recording royalties, to Mary Austin and the remainder to his parents and sister.