Although Queen is not a band from my generation, their songs are incredibly popular. The 1994 World Cup in the United States used “We Are the Champions” as the theme song, which introduced me to the band and led me to explore more of their music. At the time, my favorites were “We Will Rock You,” “Don’t Stop Me Now,” and “Bohemian Rhapsody.”
However, I feel that rather than being a movie about the origins of Queen, it is more of a biographical film about Freddie Mercury. The entire movie narrates Freddie’s journey from joining the band Smile (the predecessor of Queen) to the end of his life, though Freddie’s life essentially revolved around Queen. I had often heard about Freddie’s connections to drug use and AIDS, but never seriously explored the real story. Through this movie, I finally got a glimpse, assuming the film is accurate enough (at least I haven’t heard Queen publicly refute it).
Freddie’s life story reminds me of Turing’s experiences in “The Imitation Game.” They both pursued what they believed was right with a do-or-die determination. Turing insisted on developing a machine to decode German messages despite the pressure from his superiors, while Freddie defied his family and sold his only possession at the time (a small truck) to invest everything in a self-produced album of uncertain success. Although they both achieved unprecedented success in the end, making such decisions at that moment took immense courage, which I genuinely admire. Another point is that both faced numerous setbacks due to their sexual orientation. But in retrospect, perhaps these setbacks made them feel they had nothing left to lose.
In “Bohemian Rhapsody,” after Freddie discovered he was gay, he distanced himself from his confidante (his former fiancée) Mary for a while. To fill the void inside, he indulged in a life of excess, including drugs and wild parties, trying to mask his loneliness and emptiness. This reminds me of posts on Facebook where people, after breaking up with their partners, share their exciting activities and motivational statements, desperately trying to convince themselves that they are doing just fine alone (though I personally think posting is healthier than drugs and wild parties XD).
In the end, Freddie finally found true love, reconciled with his confidante Mary, and reunited with Queen to perform at a charity concert, completing one of the world’s greatest concerts. While it seems like a typical ending for a movie, knowing it’s a true story gives it a sense of triumph and redemption at the end of his life.
As a regular movie, I think the development is quite standard, with a normal structure. But as a biography, most people don’t have such dramatic arcs in their lives, making it quite fascinating from this perspective. The film includes the creation stories of many hit songs, such as “We Will Rock You,” which was made to engage the audience in the performance after realizing they enjoyed interacting with the band; “I Want to Break Free,” whose music video was too shocking for societal values at the time and got banned; and of course, “Bohemian Rhapsody,” the title of the movie, which led to a fallout with the record company over its six-minute length, but proved to be an everlasting classic (though the film doesn’t focus much on this song, which felt a bit misleading XD). These song creation stories resonated with me, as I grew up listening to them (and even learned many English words from them).
If you’re a fan of Queen or have a basic understanding of their songs, you will likely enjoy this film. If you don’t know them at all, you might miss out on some of the fun, but it’s still a movie with basic entertainment value.