I suppose I could understand the reasons behind Bohemian Rhapsody, the movie tribute to Freddie Mercury. I could never stand Queen, apart from their very first single Keep Yourself Alive which I now hate along with everything else in their catalogue, but the fact that Mercury died some years ago made it legitimate to make a film. The Elton John so-called biopic, Rocket Man, less so.
Elton and his husband were closely involved in the movie process as executive producer and producer respectively. Elton insisted on leaving some of the drugs and booze stuff in the movie, but come on: this was never going to be a warts and all expose if the old boy was casting an eye over the production as it took place.
It’s also that Elton is still very much alive and still performing that I find very odd. Apparently, the brilliant Taron Egerton excels at being the great man but the point is he isn’t the great man. Aren’t tributes like these better when the subject isn’t around to see the results?
I rather think people go to movies like Rocket Man and Bohemian Rhapsody because they love the music and don’t give a toss whether the storyline is accurate representation of someone’s life. I did not hear a negative word about the Mercury tribute, other than newspaper reviewers who took a more objective critical viewpoint. Both the reviewers and fans are right in their own way: reviewers review and have a perfect right to point out something is really a tribute rather than a serious biopic and the fans simply love the music.
I doubt anyway that Mercury’s old bandmates would have enjoyed Bohemian Rhapsody quite so much if the movie reflected the reality of the times before which Queen’s popularity went through the roof. Before Live Aid, the band was more of a pariah than a band of legend, having ignored sanctions against apartheid South Africa by repeatedly playing the white man (and woman) only resort of Sun City when most other artists maintained the boycott. Queen were bobbling along, a Championship rather than Premiership outfit. Live Aid changed everything.
Elton never really went away. I still think his best work took place in the early 1970s, with his albums Madman Across the Water, Tumbleweed Connection and probably Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, his last great album which was released in 1973. Subsequent albums certainly included some great tunes but there was far more filler than killer.
Still, Elton still sells out stadiums and cricket grounds and arenas, so he must have been doing something right.
I’m not saying tribute films should not be made or that people shouldn’t watch them. If you like the music, why not enjoy the movie? With Elton still being very much alive, I don’t quite get it!
