"Bohemian Rhapsody" by Bryan Singer (2018)

This is something I had in mind for quite some time and was overjoyed when friends invited me spontaneously for a evening in a cinema. I was never really fan of rock band Queen but as a teenager growing up in the 1980s I was sure aware how big they were and their hits played non stop on the radio. Hearing good things about the movie, I was curious to experience it for myself and was pleasantly surprised how carefully the filmmakers treated the subject of flamboyant singer's life - everything was shown but not exactly in your face and luckily the focus was not a list of dirty laundry but the circumstances in which he lived, the media pressure, the backstage intrigues, the loyalty between band members and what kept them together. Flamboyant Freddie Mercury was the band's most recognisable trademark and movie is mainly focused on him, in this case he was very faithfully portrayed by young Rami Malek who did an excellent job by showing him as nervous, highly energetic personality probably tortured by his inner demons and surrounded by usual gang of sycophants - nothing unusual for that particular lifestyle and something we could probably expect.

I was particularly impressed how the movie realistically reconstructed band's phenomenal performance on legendary Live Aid concert in 1985 - I watched it myself on TV and remember how sensational guys were, Mercury had actually commanded stadium audience like he was born to do it and thousands of people responded as he was some conductor, making them sing along and clap hands in unison. Two concerts were organised simultaneously, Freddie Mercury was the highlight of the one in UK, while personally I would say that duet of Mick Jagger and Tina Turner was the highlight of the concert across Atlantic. 

Curiously, I read some comments and opinions that movie was not gritty enough and that it could have focused more on dark side of Mercury's private life, but I think these people miss the point completely. Mercury passed away in 1991 (at the age of 45!) and why dragging him trough the mud just for the sake of entertainment (or curiosity) - we know how he died and what he died from, its not necessary to go into details here, besides the movie ends on a positive note so that was just fine by me. Biographies, memoirs and biopics are not a dirty laundry list but a story about someones life and surely there is more to Freddie Mercury than his death, for which he seems to have been remembered. Before he died, he was also one of the biggest rock stars in the world and this is how I chose to remember him.