| spiralstatic 23.12.2018 11:46 |
Following on from posting in the Bohemian Rhapsody film thread the other day, it got me thinking, as fans of Queen with all of the knowledge of the band and Freddie, what do you think a film made about Freddie/Queen should say? For me, I enjoyed Bohemian Rhapsody, though didn't adore it, but I loved it fine for what it is. However, here I intend to pretend it doesn't exist and just imagine a film. I think probably members of the band are too close to it all to make an actually terrific film when you think about it. Initially you think those who were there should make the best and most accurate art, but sometimes distance can produce something more true. Personally, I really loved the film "Love & Mercy" a few years ago. I knew very little about The Beach Boys going into it, but came out not only loving the film but with a lot more respect for them musically than I had going in. (Err.. I mean, not that I boguht an album or anything. But I loved the film.) I think that film has a poetic quality to it which is the greatest strength the medium of film possesses. - Anyway, first off: would you prefer a Queen story or a Freddie story? - What eras of the band's/Freddie's life would you focus on? Would you try to tackle it all? Focus in most of all on one particular time? Only start at a certain point? End at a certain point? (Well, you do have to end somewhere of course.) - What do you think it most important for a film to convey about Freddie &/or Queen? - Do you think a linear film or something more weird would work best? - What issues do you think are the most important to contain in the film and do you know what you'd say about them? - What should people feel/think at the end as they leave? For me, Freddie is such a complex character with so many contradictory sides: from a sweet kindness and generous nature to I'm sure a diva cruelty at times he ought to be such a fascinating subject. Ambition itself is fascinating, no? And for sure Queen were wildly ambitious! Even musically, the variety in what Freddie was interested in and wrote is far more sweeping than I can think of many (any?) other musicians. Im fascinated by what made him who he was... but I'm not sure if there exists anyone who could actually tell you/knows that? Though you could research and speak to others who'd had a similar childhood and those who knew him while they're still around to hear their words. I find a contradictions between musical Freddie and Freddie the person fascinating too. Shyness versus flamboyance and out-there confidence. I love watching early Queen gigs - partly as they're so musically great, but also to see the ways Freddie tried to connect with the audience then. He always tried to connect with the audience and spoke to them, but at the start there was something a little bit off in how he did it. It was probably because they took themsleves very seriously back then as Freddie himself would later say and I sometimes feel in the late 70's/early 80's they look like they're having so much fun and you can feel that energy, enjoyment and fun... yet, I LOVED them most when they took themselves so seriously too. There's something weirdly endearing about the whole thing back then as well as how musically fabulous it is. I find it all so intriguing. I also find the difference in Freddie's taste in art and his taste in men pretty fascinating. He liked something pretty base in terms of his sexual desire, eh. It's so curious. What was he seeking there. We can't know of course, but someone has to have analysed it or thought about it. And I think that's interesting if you're making a film. As well as what was he really seeking with Mary & she with him? For me, what I love about the film that we have is that it has a lot of early Queen and a lot of music and live music in it. I had the fear when I first heard about the film that it would focus on the 80's Freddie thats most well known. I think to include some of Freddie's childhood, a lot of early Queen - up to the mid-late 70's and just a bit of the 80's, but at least something of the Innuendo sessions, say would make the strongest film. I think the strongest kind of film would be for me something more poetic and less linear that really tries to express somehow some truth about Freddie rather than caring too much about telling us every thing. The issue with this is: what is the deep truth about Freddie the film ought to express. I definitely think a film about Freddie should be very inspiring: because of his creativity and because of his strength. By the way I like the way the film we have ends where it does. It feels respectful. But a stronger film would have included Freddie's later years somehow too. I dunno. This is all muddled as I just type it as I think it. but I just feel like it could have been something remarkable. I wonder if that film will ever be made. Not the one I describe, which is just random thoughts. But something truly remarkable. Anyway, what are your thoughts? |
| bucsateflon 23.12.2018 19:38 |
Freddie biopic and Queen biopic are two different things. A Freddie biopic is for superficial, shallow audiences... A Queen biopic is for Queen fans and other intelligent audiences. |
| spiralstatic 23.12.2018 22:56 |
Anyone who feels compelled to crow about their own intelligence whatever the reason, I doubt how much they possess. (Meant part in jest, part seriousness! Meow! ;p xxx) |
| bucsateflon 24.12.2018 09:40 |
luckily no one bragged about his intelligence, here. (coucou bhau! <:-O a mouse!) |
| The Fairy King 24.12.2018 15:24 |
spiralstatic wrote: Following on from posting in the Bohemian Rhapsody film thread the other day, it got me thinking, as fans of Queen with all of the knowledge of the band and Freddie, what do you think a film made about Freddie/Queen should say? For me, I enjoyed Bohemian Rhapsody, though didn't adore it, but I loved it fine for what it is. However, here I intend to pretend it doesn't exist and just imagine a film. I think probably members of the band are too close to it all to make an actually terrific film when you think about it. Initially you think those who were there should make the best and most accurate art, but sometimes distance can produce something more true. Personally, I really loved the film "Love & Mercy" a few years ago. I knew very little about The Beach Boys going into it, but came out not only loving the film but with a lot more respect for them musically than I had going in. (Err.. I mean, not that I boguht an album or anything. But I loved the film.) I think that film has a poetic quality to it which is the greatest strength the medium of film possesses. - Anyway, first off: would you prefer a Queen story or a Freddie story? - What eras of the band's/Freddie's life would you focus on? Would you try to tackle it all? Focus in most of all on one particular time? Only start at a certain point? End at a certain point? (Well, you do have to end somewhere of course.) - What do you think it most important for a film to convey about Freddie &/or Queen? - Do you think a linear film or something more weird would work best? - What issues do you think are the most important to contain in the film and do you know what you'd say about them? - What should people feel/think at the end as they leave? For me, Freddie is such a complex character with so many contradictory sides: from a sweet kindness and generous nature to I'm sure a diva cruelty at times he ought to be such a fascinating subject. Ambition itself is fascinating, no? And for sure Queen were wildly ambitious! Even musically, the variety in what Freddie was interested in and wrote is far more sweeping than I can think of many (any?) other musicians. Im fascinated by what made him who he was... but I'm not sure if there exists anyone who could actually tell you/knows that? Though you could research and speak to others who'd had a similar childhood and those who knew him while they're still around to hear their words. I find a contradictions between musical Freddie and Freddie the person fascinating too. Shyness versus flamboyance and out-there confidence. I love watching early Queen gigs - partly as they're so musically great, but also to see the ways Freddie tried to connect with the audience then. He always tried to connect with the audience and spoke to them, but at the start there was something a little bit off in how he did it. It was probably because they took themsleves very seriously back then as Freddie himself would later say and I sometimes feel in the late 70's/early 80's they look like they're having so much fun and you can feel that energy, enjoyment and fun... yet, I LOVED them most when they took themselves so seriously too. There's something weirdly endearing about the whole thing back then as well as how musically fabulous it is. I find it all so intriguing. I also find the difference in Freddie's taste in art and his taste in men pretty fascinating. He liked something pretty base in terms of his sexual desire, eh. It's so curious. What was he seeking there. We can't know of course, but someone has to have analysed it or thought about it. And I think that's interesting if you're making a film. As well as what was he really seeking with Mary & she with him? For me, what I love about the film that we have is that it has a lot of early Queen and a lot of music and live music in it. I had the fear when I first heard about the film that it would focus on the 80's Freddie thats most well known. I think to include some of Freddie's childhood, a lot of early Queen - up to the mid-late 70's and just a bit of the 80's, but at least something of the Innuendo sessions, say would make the strongest film. I think the strongest kind of film would be for me something more poetic and less linear that really tries to express somehow some truth about Freddie rather than caring too much about telling us every thing. The issue with this is: what is the deep truth about Freddie the film ought to express. I definitely think a film about Freddie should be very inspiring: because of his creativity and because of his strength. By the way I like the way the film we have ends where it does. It feels respectful. But a stronger film would have included Freddie's later years somehow too. I dunno. This is all muddled as I just type it as I think it. but I just feel like it could have been something remarkable. I wonder if that film will ever be made. Not the one I describe, which is just random thoughts. But something truly remarkable. Anyway, what are your thoughts?First off...Spiral Static....are you a Muse fan? :D Secondly i have been thinking about this ever since i've seen the movie. At the heart of it, it is a romantic drama between Mary and Freddie and i would've liked it more centered on that and the band moved to the background. "Love of My Life" would've made a terrific title, especially because that song was basically written from Mary's standpoint. Which would've made an awesome angle to tell the story from. Storywise it would've made more sense that it would've centered more about how he was and instead of the two dimensional flawed biopic we got in the end. Albeit enjoyable, but ultimately disappointing for fans and clearly made for the masses. Though i can't imagine how difficult it was to get the script "right" to even consider filming, because he was such a private guy and all they could do is draw from his lyrics, a handfull of interviews and stories from people who surrounded him. |
| spiralstatic 24.12.2018 18:34 |
Hello The Fairy King! I'm impressed you got where my username is from. Yes, Muse were the first more current band I discovered and fell in love with. Not hard to see how that happened, starting from an initial love of Queen as a kid, eh! I actually haven't heard their newest stuff. so should check it out, but since I often used Spiral Static when I first started going online, I tend to automatically use it still often. I still like Muse's work, but no longer know all of it. I'll be always grateful to Muse for allowing me to discover there was great music in the time I'm alive too and thus allowing me to then seek out/find lots of other great bands as well. I think Mary & Freddie's relationship is the heart of the film they made already & personally I liked this aspect of the film. The issues for me are the bending of Queen-facts and a paint-by-numbers quality which has no place in a film about so creative a band as Queen or so creative a person as Freddie. In fact I feel the other band members already are too two dimensional in the film which is why Brian seems too Saint-like. And Freddie has to be always late and always the one creating drama/trouble which I doubt is accurate. So I certainly wouldn't have the band in a story even less so myself. If Mary and Freddie's relationship had been even more concerted a focus, it could have avoided making up the band-split scenario though which would be a bonus. However, much as I am glad Mary and her relationship with Freddie features in the film, I wouldn't personally want more of that at the expense of less music. Musically, I think it would have been most interesting to delve into the band first discovering their sound... which they sort of do I guess. But I'd love more studio insight. I wonder what those battles were truly like. You need to be pretty honest about the nature of all 4 of the guys for that though. In the film we have, I enjoyed the early studio session, but didn't find much interesting in the We Will Rock You session for example. I think we could all have assumed the reason Brian wrote that and there could be something more interesting expressed about a band with 4 songwriters, battling out their often very different ideas. Relationship-wise, to focus even more on Mary and Freddie I personally feel could have detracted from the music and from the truth of Freddie as a gay man. Though not if you also included Mary's experience of discovering Freddie's sexuality I suppose. I don't dismiss Freddie & Mary's relationship at all here. I think she was the most important person to him: she was obviously part of his entire adult life, and from things he said, he must have thought some time or other on how if things had been different he'd have been married with Mary.... I don't mean in a regretful way. Thank goodness Freddie didn't marry Try out of some kind of guilt! Thank goodness he discovered and explored his sexuality for his sake and probably also for the good of his musical creativity. But she must have known Freddie in some ways probably no-one else did. But since I don't think Mary is likely to write her story (or Freddie wouldn't have trusted her so) her experience and anything she truly knows or thinks will remain a mystery always. Thus a story with this focus, I feel would have to be very much invented and imagined. However, seeing Freddie through Mary's eyes could have been a fascinating take on telling a story - watching her experience of Freddie before fame and of how he became who he eventually was. I can imagine that could be a great story.... although I fear it could lack way too much of who Freddie was, especially musically. How do you incorporate studio and live Queen into seeing it all from Mary's eyes? I would personally be more interested in a film that focuses most on/expresses why and who Freddie was creatively - as musician, performer and the on stage and behind the stage experiences that shaped this. Your comment gives me all sorts of ideas though. Makes me think about how different people might experience the same person. I always think we all have a slightly different way of being with every person who is very close to us which is to do with who both of you are. On this note, I think it would have been more interesting to see Freddie through the eyes of his band mates - but truly honestly - about him and about themselves. Relationships are personally not my favourite subject though. I find them not very interesting and in some ways irrelevant, so I'd rather there be no relationships at all if a work of art could get to some interestingly expressed truth about Freddie. I understand how it'd be hard not to include that in any story of Freddie though. To me who Freddie was as musician and artist is the most interesting thing. Aside from that - then what informs who he was and became. |