Bohemian Rhapsody was so successful and well received, to be honest, a bit of a surprise. Strictly speaking, this is not a very delicate film, but what it tells and expresses has successfully captured the hearts of the audience.
Queen and their music are timeless classics that are still sung in different fields today, carrying and conveying people's emotions and spirits. And the lead singer Freddie's struggle and struggle, love and pain, life and art, in the current flashy and pursuit of equal rights environment, people feel and inspire. Those unforgettable times, those immortal touches, those exciting moments, make people mad.
"Bohemian Rhapsody" reminds me of a film from almost a decade ago— a musical biographical film in a similar form — 2007's Control.
"Control" recreates the story of the British "post-punk" band "joy division" (there are various translations of "Happy Squad", "Happy Split", "Happy Ministry" and so on) in China, especially lead singer Ian Curtis. Formed in 1977 and announced its dissolution in 1980 by the suicide of lead singer Ian, the band has only been active for a few years, but its music has been passed down through the generations. When people count the brilliance and bits of British rock, the "joy division" with its unique style and influence of music is also a representative that cannot be ignored.
When "Control" was launched that year, it also had a positive response among music fans and fans, but its influence was still incomparable with the current "Bohemian Rhapsody". In addition to the relatively niche of the band and the protagonist, the different musical styles of the two also determine the direction of the film's momentum to some extent.
Ian was a depressed, withdrawn person, and in his final years he suffered from epilepsy and emotional torment, and became moody and unapproachable. For the artist, pain is the source of inspiration or the theme of his expression, and the beauty and emotion after the fire are expressed through the work. Ian's music touched countless people, but he couldn't save himself. Freddie also had a lot of pain, but his music and singing voice were passionate and proud, and despite his unsatisfactory, he still had music and fought with it.
What should be said here is not that different styles of music have advantages and disadvantages, but that in the case of the film itself being "lackluster", the object of its performance represents the charm of the film. Ian is not an unattractive person, but under the careful and cheesy handling of the film, his tragedy and legend are dissolved, and he is just a lonely passer-by to viewers who do not know him. (It's even more unacceptable to people who know him well, thanks to the fact that the director has also made a joy division documentary.) ）
It's not easy to pass on to celebrities. Although the more controversial the more exciting, the more controversial and more careful it is for the public, especially for films with commercial appeals. Although the quality of the work depends on the ability of the creator, "security" also limits imagination.
Of course, there are still "no scruples", such as "Sid and Nancy". In this movie, Sid is "ugly", but no one should defend him. As a representative of the "Sex Gunners" band and the punk movement, Sid's madness and destruction are his charm.
"Sid and Nancy" while showing Sid's peak career, chooses the bond between him and his girlfriend Nancy as an "observation window". While most rockers are fretting about "third parties," Sid has only Nancy in mind. But the union of the two is still negative, they can comfort each other and rely on each other, holding hands and sinking together. Sid, and the punk spirit he represents, are clamoring vigorously, but they are inherently fragile. But this fragility, and madness, is a little cute in the face of hypocrisy and dull reality, so that people who seek freedom dance with it.
Alex Cox, the director of "Sid and Nancy", is not very famous, and the other two more famous works, "Beacon Monster" and "The Seeker", have been out of the "standard collector's version". In addition, the film's two main actors, Gary Oldman and Chloe Weber, were also hotly discussed with the audience along with the film.
There is also a more famous biography of a rock celebrity directed by Oliver Stone in The Gate. Despite being shot by a big director, the film is controversial. The soul of the Gate Band, of course, is its lead singer Jim Morrison. The film begins with an attempt to restore the poetic temperament of this young man influenced by the Beats, but is soon overwhelmed by the "everyday" life of rock stars: the depravity of a drunken fan and the emotional restlessness of the room. Emotion, especially love, is indeed a very important part of the character, but in terms of performance, sometimes it is still necessary to be detached in order to show particularity and not fall behind.
Another major feature of the "gate" is "psychedelic". The film's performance in this regard is very good, through composition, color, light and shadow, editing, etc., to create a visually charming atmosphere.
In order to avoid the troubles and limitations of the "celebrity effect", but also to pay tribute and nostalgia, some creators will take another path of adaptation. Based on the classic character archetype but not by name, it can be more flexible and rich in the performance of the theme and the choice of content. Representative works in this regard are "Velvet Gold Mine" and "Singing Tears".
"Velvet Gold Mine" pays tribute to "gorgeous rock" and is revisited by a fan and fellow journalist. The film is relatively complex in character setting, and in addition to the basic archetypes of David Bowie and Iki Pope, it also mixes Mark Bolan ("t-rex" lead singer, one of the "gorgeous" ancestors) and Lou Reed (the underground velvet band, a famous record with a banana cover designed by Andy Warhol), and the comment that "the first underground velvet album sold only 30,000 copies in the first five years, but each person who bought it later formed their own band". )
Whether it is gorgeous rock or punk, they all live by dreams and freedom, and they do whatever they want under disguise, ambiguous, and degenerate. The forerunners inspired and burned the soul. Their brilliance and glory pierced through the walls that surrounded people's hearts.
One of the main actors, Jonathan Les Meyers, is well known for the charm of the film, and later he also starred in the TV-like "Elvis Presley" and played Henry VIII in "Tudor". Another lead actor, Ivan McGregor, is running forward, having previously starred in Danny Boyle's Shallow Grave and Guess the Train, as well as Peter Greenaway's The Pillow Book ("Guess the Train" is also a "rock movie" and a good soundtrack, but not in the scope of this article).
Based on Janis Joplin, one of the greatest women in rock history, "Tears of Song" portrays a tragic woman who is repeatedly hurt by the desire to be loved, and who has an inexplicable loneliness and pain behind the glory and applause of the stage. The concert scene of this film is definitely one of the best in film history, and Broadway-born lead actor Bet Midler sang many classic songs such as "the rose", "when a man loves a woman", "stay with me" and other classic songs, successfully interpreting the "absolute singing" of the peak of emotions and the edge of loss of control.
"Can you forgive me... Well, I forgive you..." she said on stage.
Musicians come with "fans and traffic", and film companies are willing to make movies for them. And it is not necessary to remember the memories afterwards, and it is convenient to let the singers perform themselves while the singer is popular.
Such films, one is a less technical history of inspirational struggle, such as Eminem's "8 Miles", and the older, less influential (as far as the film is concerned) Prince's "Purple Rain". The song of the same name, "Purple Rain", is also the prince's masterpiece.
The other type is "music movies" based on the characteristics of singers. More popular is a series of films starring Elvis in the 1950s and 1960s. Artistically, there are Beatles' "One Night Carnival", "Help", etc., and the director of both films is Richard Lester. Richard Lester has made many excellent comedies, such as "The Daycover", "Spring Full of Ancient Cities", etc., and later participated in the "Superman" series of films.
Rolling Stones lead singer Mick Jagger also starred in a film called Performance (1970). This uniquely styled two-part film tells the story of a fugitive gang member hiding in a basement, who is shocked by the bohemian lifestyle of the owner of the house, Mick Jagger, and his two cohabiting female companions, and gradually becomes attracted to it. Mick Jagger performed the show and sang "memo from turner".
Mick Jagger
Psychedelic Performance is co-directed by major directors Nicholas Roig and Donald Carmel. There are not many works by Donald Carmel, but one is "Wild Edge" with Chen Chong's participation, which has the passionate performances of Chen Chong and Ann Haiche.
There's also Ken Russell's "Breaking Through the Valley of Darkness" ("tommy" (1975) for the band Who (the theme song of the famous American drama "Crime Scene Investigation"). "Tommy" is also the name of one of the band's most famous rock opera albums, and the film is also based on the album, so "Breaking through the Valley of Darkness" is also a very distinctive rock opera movie, or a large mv.
When you think of "mv", you will think of the famous "Labyrinth Wall". "pink floyd the wall", of course, is about Pink Floyd and their "Wall of Mystery".
Alan Parker, the director of "The Wall of Mystery," also made another movie about the band, Dreamcatcher. The Dublin Youth Band, which likes black soul music, has members from all over the world and is a little person chasing dreams. After the success of the film, the band in the film really began to tour in reality, which is also a good story.
Similar to "DreamCatcher", it is the movie "Cape Seven", which was a hit in Taiwan that year and set a box office record. Of course, the success of the film is not because of love or memory, but its local and musical nature, which is a rare genre in the Chinese film industry. The band in the play was also very popular outside the play, and got many opportunities to perform. However, there are several members of this band (Maughbo and little girl are big), and the actors themselves are not good at instruments, so it is more difficult to perform.
The band that has more participation in the chinese film industry is Hong Kong Beyond. Beyond starred in a "Beyond Diary of a Young And Poor", which tells the collision of urban youth ideals and reality, that is, the story of work and making money. Although the band was finally formed "ideally", the film itself has nothing to do with music, so I will not say more.
Starting from biographical films, this article briefly tells some representative rock movies. Of course, there are many rock movies, and the nutrients rooted in the music itself can have unlimited imagination. Finally, there is an interesting movie, a rare comedy rock movie "Long Live Rock", which is presented in the form of a pseudo-documentary. A legendary band, Spinal Tap, embarked on a comeback tour, and although it was difficult to hide its past and backwardness, they still had their own persistence. The film is satirical and accompanied by a variety of secondary two bridges, which is quite cute.
The band in the film was later on the road in reality. This is also the afterglow of the film's irony. In addition, it can also be said that rock and roll is a bridge between reality and ideals, so that people can indulge it.
(Image from the Internet)