Review Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
Following on from its Golden Globes win for ‘Best Picture – Drama’, “Bohemian Rhapsody” is set to score sing-along screenings at more than 750 North American locations from this Friday.

The sing-along version will display song lyrics on screen, allowing viewers to perform the movie’s main tracks including “We Will Rock You,” “We Are the Champions,” “Crazy Little Thing Called Love,” “Another One Bites the Dust,” and, of course, the title song.
 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
Rami Malek Responds To Singer Report


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Rami Malek was honored Friday at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival for his Oscar-nominated work in the Queen biopic “Bohemian Rhapsody”. The film has been making headlines again lately as allegations of a long history of sexual abuse tied to the film’s director Bryan Singer have emerged in the press.

Singer was famously fired from the production by studio 20th Century Fox several weeks out from the end of shooting, with Dexter Fletcher then coming in to replace him and finish off the movie. Ultimately though, Singer is the sole credited director on the movie.

Malek hasn’t commented much on the reports since they were published, only having previously said he was unaware of claims against Singer before taking on the film. However, speaking with THR in a Q&A at the fest, he’s finally opened up a bit about the claims. Malek says:

“My heart goes out to anyone who has to live through anything like what I’ve heard and what is out there. It’s awful, it’s remarkable that this happens, I can appreciate so much what they’ve been through and how difficult this must be for them. In the light of the #MeToo era that this somehow seems to exist after that, it’s a horrible thing.

[I don’t] want anyone to not feel like they can share their story. I’ve sat here and talked about how everyone deserves a voice and anyone who wants to talk about what happened with Bryan deserves to have their voice heard. In my situation with Bryan, it was not pleasant, not at all. And that’s about what I can say about it at this point.”

Malek, who by then was reportedly visibly emotional whilst discussing this, added:

“For anyone who is seeking any solace in all of this, Bryan Singer was fired. Bryan Singer was fired, I don’t think that was something anyone saw coming but I think that had to happen and it did.”

Despite his firing, Singer is still allegedly in line to make $40 million from the Freddie Mercury biopic.
 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
China’s “Bohemian” Censoring Proves Extreme


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A censored version of the Queen biopic “Bohemian Rhapsody” opened in China over the weekend in a limited number of arthouse cinemas.


The Chinese Government-approved cut pulled out around four minutes worth of footage from the film including scenes about Mercury’s personal relationships, sexuality references, drug references and AIDS diagnosis references. It also seems they didn’t stop there.

ABC Australia reports that Chinese fans who saw the film over the weekend, but had previously viewed the original cut, compared the two and noticed some key absences.

The most egregious excise was the film’s key scene where Mercury comes out as bisexual to his then-girlfriend Mary Austin – resulting in the end of their relationship. The scene was reportedly completely cut, leaving viewers confused as to why they broke up with one attendee saying: “many scenes in the film didn’t make any sense at all”.

The report goes on to say all explicit and implied references to Mercury’s homosexuality were removed and it was so extreme that scenes including one where Freddie holds a mic stand near his groin, one featuring a historical photo of Mercury and long-term partner Jim Hutton, and the recreation of the ” I Want to Break Free” music video which has the band members in drag – were all removed.

Chinese online streaming service Mango TV drew controversy last month after it censored Malek’s Academy Awards acceptance speech after he got the Best Actor award for his portrayal of Mercury.
 
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