On July 13, 1985, an unprecedented large-scale charity concert was held at the John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, New York and Wembley Stadium in London at the same time.
The 16-hour "Live Aid" concert attracted more than 160,000 people (90,000 in the US and 70,000 in the UK) and reached more than 1.5 billion viewers in 140 countries via TV Watch the broadcast.
This world-renowned concert aims to raise funds for the great famine in Ethiopia. More than 100 famous rock stars from all over the world participated in this benefit performance.
Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, Led Zeppelin, Bruce Springsteen, Queen, U2, Madonna... It's a fantastic lineup.
It can be called a historical feat to bring together popular singers who usually go their own way. It is one of the greatest and most shocking concerts in human history, and it can even be eliminated.
Later generations can only sigh at the untimely time, and can only watch the standard definition video to feel it.
However, in a recent film, a "high imitation" clip of this concert appeared, which can be said to be a restoration of God.
This is Bohemian Rhapsody, which was just nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture and won Best Drama and Best Actor at the Golden Globes.
"Bohemian Rhapsody"
The film is a biographical film about Queen, or more accurately, lead singer Freddie.
Queen, the world's top rock band, has an immortal status in the world music scene. The golden songs "We Will Rock You" and "We Are The Champions" are even more household names.
"Bohemian Rhapsody" is one of Queen's most important and greatest works.
In the "Save a Life" concert, although there were many stars, Queen was the absolute king of the stage that day. With their well-known golden songs and iconic performances and interactions, they detonated the chorus, and the scene was very shocking.
In the film, it begins with Queen's preparation for the stage, and at the end, it reproduces the whole process of their performance back then.
Long before watching the movie, there were comments that the movie was booked five stars in advance because of Queen.
After watching the movie, there are also a group of viewers who think that the quality of the movie is not satisfactory, but the concert at the end turned the tide, and it is worth giving it five stars.
This is as exciting as the reappearance of history. Many viewers who are fortunate enough to watch on the big screen abroad, when they see many white-haired old people sitting beside them, sigh that they share the same youth across time and space.
And the film can do all this, relying on the true restoration of the details.
This is thanks to the escort of the band's guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor. The two personally participated in the control of many aspects such as costumes, props, and concerts. The director even directly asked them whether the actors' reactions were real on the set.
Brian (left) and Roger (right) on set
Regarding the statement that the film focuses too much on the lead singer Freddie and ignores the rest of the band, the rest of the band also made it clear that this is not a film of the band, it is a biopic of Freddie.
Freddie Mercury, the soul of Queen, like many biopic characters, he had a brilliance of genius and a tragic ending, and in his storied and short life, he indulged in the beauty of music, but also satiety. Suffering from loneliness, confusion, and illness.
Freddie was diagnosed with AIDS in 1987 and died of AIDS-induced pneumonia in 1991 at the age of 45.
But it wasn't until 1990 that Freddy, who was so weakened that he could barely walk, still insisted on completing the recording of the last album of his life.
Perhaps unwilling to let his morbidity be made public, the film chose to end with a concert in 1985.
However, in order to complete his life, some adjustments have been made to the timeline in the film, including the time when he was diagnosed with the disease, and some of the plots are also fictional, but they are all based on real events and do not affect the overall narrative. .
The following story is based on the movie.
Like many biopics and rock band routines, the film's story isn't too surprising.
From the band line, it tells how Freddie joined the band, made the band, and then he fell into arrogance and confusion, did not fit in with the band, and finally betrayed and returned to the band.
In terms of personal emotions, it also tells about the collision and reconciliation between Freddy and his family, encountering the love of his life, and then discovering his own sexual orientation problem. After experiencing indulgence and depravity, he was diagnosed with a disease, and finally returned to love and family.
As a rock star, Freddie has a lot of hallmarks.
From his appearance, he does not look European, he was born in Zanzibar, India, and is an Indian Parsi.
In the film, Freddy, who started out as a porter at the airport, is often mocked for being Pakistani.
Not only that, but he also has buck teeth and looks quite impressive.
He studied design and usually dresses very stylishly.
He also changed the name Freddie himself. At first, he didn't talk about his life experience. Obviously, he had an inferiority complex about it and was unwilling to accept his true self.
He had a very poor relationship with his father, and he could quarrel if he disagreed.
But he also has his own hobbies. When he has nothing to do, he writes songs in a small notebook. At night, he often goes to bars to chase stars, chasing after a small band called Smile at that time.
One day, there was a disagreement within the Smile band, and the lead singer left, just happened to be caught by Freddy.
Freddie offered himself up, but his buck teeth were mocked.
Freddy was not angry, he turned around and opened his mouth to sing, and the guitarist Brian and drummer Roger were shocked.
Freddy explained that he has four more front teeth, so he has more room in his mouth and a wider vocal range.
While this episode of joining the band is fictitious, Freddy's claims are said to be true.
Inborn defects have become his weapons. Freddy is famous for his ability to span four octaves. Therefore, Freddy is affectionately called "Uncle Tooth" by fans.
Eventually, they brought in bassist John and the band was ready.
In the first performance, everyone was not sure about Freddy, and the microphone stand on the stage even made a joke with him, and he couldn't pull it up. The scene was very embarrassing for a time.
(Freddy's later gigs tended to be half-handed, so maybe that had something to do with that.)
Fortunately, Freddy stabilized, and used coquettish walking and enchanting vocals to make the audience shut their booing mouths.
Queen is officially formed.
But it's not very promising to be in the bar all the time, so Freddy, the daring artist, directly proposed to sell the band's car and record the record.
Anyway, everyone has nothing to lose, so just do it.
When they were playing in the studio, they were picked up by EMI, and when asked how they were different from other bands, Freddy said:
"The four of us in the band are not gregarious, and we're dedicated to singing for people who don't fit in. We sing for people who are excluded, silently pushed out of the crowd, and sure they don't fit in, and we fit in with them."
This answer made them officially a band under EMI.
They then ushered in the production of a new album and touring around the world.
But then their creative ideas clashed with the boss.
In the film, the boss of EMI hopes that the queen can quickly release a new album by applying the previous hit songs.
But they were sternly rejected by the band, they were unwilling to repeat themselves, and this time their key word was opera.
So, "Bohemian Rhapsody" came out.
This work, which was later called "Rock Opera" in rock history, was too deviant at first to be released.
Three minutes is the industry standard for a song, but "Bohemian Rhapsody" is more than six minutes long, and the music structure is extremely special, including opera, heavy metal, a cappella, etc., which is incredible in popular music.
During the recording, Freddy was even more strict, and the "Galileo" part was recorded dozens of times.
At that time, this song was directly called an unintelligible miscellaneous song by the EMI boss, and refused to be the title song of the new album.
So the band tore up with him, turned around and took it to the radio to play it. The play was full of scolding from music critics.
But the reason why classics become classics is that they will never shake their status in the future because of bad reviews and doubts in the past. Most of them are ahead of time. It is not time that makes classics, but ordinary people finally arrived in front of classics after many years. .
Fortunately, at the time when the British pop gods were fighting, the ears of the British people knew the goods.
Once the single was released, it went straight to No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart for nine consecutive weeks, and sold more than 2 million copies in the UK, setting a record for the highest-selling single in British history at the time.
"Bohemia" is included on the album "A Night at the Opera", which also has a song "Love of my life" worth mentioning.
This song was written by Freddy to Mary, the love of her life, and it's a touching song.
In the film, Freddy and Mary met in a bar, and Mary's company and encouragement later became Freddy's very important spiritual pillar.
Freddy had put a ring on Mary, but the two were not married.
It wasn't until later that Freddy discovered his bisexual identity and the two separated.
After the separation, Freddy still relied on Mary and bought the mansion opposite her. The two stood in front of the window and perceived each other through the lights.
But later, Mary still looked for the other half. Without Mary's company and the villain's troubles, Freddy was completely lost.
He signed a solo deal and indulged in drugs and promiscuity every day.
Fortunately, Mary finally woke him up, the band reached a settlement, and finally caught up with the "Save a Life" concert.
Although the interpretation of Queen and even Freddy in the film is still superficial, it is more like a routine biography of characters, and their spirit and ideas are not well expressed.
Their eclectic and avant-garde fashion aesthetics, as well as their challenges to gender boundaries, are endowed in their works and extend beyond their works, which are worth further understanding.
Rami Malek, who played Freddy, did his best for the role so we could see a God-restored Uncle Tooth.
I saw him on the stage holding a half microphone stand as an artifact, holding a firm fist, using a coquettish walking position, a unique interactive way to infect the audience, and infect you and me who could not reach the scene.
-FIN -
Public number: Xiaoxian movie (xiaoxianmovie)
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