Rock of Love

Cats are great companions for people all around the world. Cats’ owners are grateful for having those felines in their homes. But certain cats are lucky to have certain owners too. The famous singer Freddie Mercury was cat fanatic and his cats lived the luxury life that they deserved thanks to him. The lead singer of the group The Queen had at least 10 cats throughout his 45 years; Dorothy, Tiffany, Tom, Jerry, Delilah, Goliath, Lily, Miko, Oscar and Romeo. The last six outlived their owner. Cats had a key role in Mercury's life, he shared Tom and Jerry with Mary Austin, the love of his life. Mary Austin and Freddie Mercury had a torturous love story and got engaged until Freddie Mercury started questioning his sexuality, considering himself bisexual but Mary Austin told him she thought he was gay. They went from lovers to friends and she is now the only person who knows where Freddie’s ashes are scattered, which was his wish. She is also the one who gave him his cat Tiffany, the only thoroughbred he ever had, according to Peter Freestone, Freddie’s assistant.

Freestone said to the Washington Post that Freddie’s cats ‘‘were his family’’. His cats were mostly adopted from shelters and animal hospitals, they were saved by the singer which is not surprising because he was known by his family and friends as a kind, generous and loyal friend. Freddie Mercury was so dedicated to his cats that he used to call them when he was on tour so that he could speak to them, the person answering the phone would try to make them meow so that Freddie could hear them. This habit of the singer was put into the movie Bohemian Rhapsody, where Rami Malek playing Mercury asks Lucy Boynton playing Mary Austin to put Tom and Jerry on the line. This translates the desire of production designers to make things seem as real as possible with a particular focus on the truthfulness of the set.

The effort was particularly put into dressing the set of Mercury’s Garden Lodge estate into the palace that it used to be, full of lavish curtains and ornate furniture. This space was essential for Mercury, he transcribed the grandiosity of the space in his song ‘‘Delilah’’, part of the last album he wrote and performed. The song is also an ode to his tortoiseshell cat who was his favourite. To be as close as possible to Freddie Mercury’s life, it makes sense for the cat to play an important role in the biopic as a recurring theme. Freddie’s cats had an important place in his life and this love is represented in Bohemian Rhapsody.

There are visible efforts of trying to make the movie a re-enactment of Mercury’s life. The film follows the singer’s life from the formation of the band up to the 1985 Live Aid at the Wembley Stadium. The effort was truly active with people close to the singer participating in the creation of the movie like Mary Austin, his assistant and also Queen members Brian May and Roger Taylor being consultants. But the biographical film about the lead singer of the British rock band Queen has not been an easy ride, even before it came out in 2018. The project of Bohemian Rhapsody started in 2010 with Sacha Baron Cohen playing Mercury but he abandoned the project in 2013 because of creative differences with producers. Thus, the project is on hold for a few years, until Remi Malek is cast in 2016.

The other major issue during the making of the movie was with the director Bryan Singer. He was the director of most of the “principal photography” which is the phase where the bulk of the movie is filmed. The principal photography began in London in 2017 but Bryan Singer is fired later on the same year because of his absence and clashing with the cast and the rest of the crew. He is replaced quickly by Dexter Fletcher who was originally set to direct the film early in development. He is then hired to complete the film, although Singer retains the credit as director, following the Directors Guild of America guidelines. Hence, Fletcher received an executive producer credit. Finally, the filming concluded in January 2018. Furthermore, when the movie comes out in 2018, it receives conflicting criticism. Bryan Singer’s direction is criticized especially the portrayal of Mercury’s sexuality and the lives of the other band members. On the other hand, Remi Malek’s performance is praised and the music sequences are applauded. Not all aspects of the movie receive the same compliments. The film also contains historical inaccuracies that certainly add drama to the story but are giving a different portrayal of the members of Queen as friends and individuals.

Owen Gleiberman wrote in Variety that: ‘‘Rami Malek does a commanding job of channelling Freddie Mercury’s flamboyant rock-god bravura, but Bryan Singer’s middle-of-the-road Queen biopic rarely lives up to the authenticity of its lead performance’’. Moreover, he said that ‘‘Bohemian Rhapsody is not big on subtlety: it tells Freddie's story loudly, taking dramatic shortcuts, over-neatly conflating events and reducing most of the surrounding characters to single dimensions. Some of the dialogue's a bit heavy-handed too, but I must say I was thoroughly entertained.’’ Furthermore, Stephanie Zacharek wrote for the Time that, ‘‘In strict filmmaking terms, Bohemian Rhapsody is a bit of a mess. Some of its scenes connect awkwardly, and it hits every beat of disaster and triumph squarely, like a gong. Yet if it has many of the problems we associate with ‘bad’ movies, it has more ragged energy than so many good ones, largely because of Rami Malek’s performance as Mercury, all glitter and muscle and nerve endings.’’ For her, it is ‘‘a movie for sensualists, not quality-control experts.’’

Irrespective of the obvious negative aspects, it becomes a major box office success becoming the six highest-grossing film of 2018 worldwide and setting the all-time box office records for the biopic and drama genres. Likewise, the film is nominated for numerous prizes and wins 4 at the 91st Academy Awards. Those prices were for Best Actor given without surprises to Remi Malek, Best Film Editing, Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing. It was also nominated for Best Picture but did not win this fifth prize. Bohemian Rhapsody also won Best Motion Picture in the Drama category at the 76th Golden Globe Awards, and was nominated for the Producers Guild of America Award for Best Theatrical Motion Picture and BAFTA Award for Best British Film. Meanwhile, Remi Malek won the Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild and BAFTA for Best Actor thanks to his performance.

Despite having defaults, the story of Freddie Mercury and his ten companions transported the public once again and will mark the spirit, making new generations more familiar with the phenomenon that was Queen and the one and only: Freddie Mercury.