Failed Oscar Campaigns: "Bohemian Rhapsody" (2018)

Scene from Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)

As awards seasons pick up, so do the campaigns to make your film have the best chances at the Best Picture race. However, like a drunken stupor, sometimes these efforts come off as trying too hard and leave behind a trailer of ridiculous flamboyance. Join me on every other Saturday for a highlight of the failed campaigns that make this season as much about prestige as it does about train wrecks. Come for the Harvey Weinstein comments and stay for the history. It's going to be a fun time as I explore cinema's rich history of attempting to matter.

The Movie

Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)

Directed By: Bryan Singer

Written By: Anthony McCarten & Peter Morgan (Story By), Anthony McCarten (Screenplay)

Starring: Rami Malek, Lucy Boynton, Gwilym Lee
Genre: Biography, Drama, Music

Running Time: 134 minutes

Summary: The story of the legendary rock band Queen and lead singer Freddie Mercury, leading up to their famous performance at Live Aid (1985).

The Movie

By hook or by crook, the most talked about movie of the 2018-2019 Oscar season wasn't how Black Panther was to become the first superhero movie nominated for Best Picture. It wasn't about Roma's ability to make Netflix a serious contender. It was the music biopic that never lost an hour of its life without intense scrutiny from the internet community while amping up ticket sales for the surviving band members. Bohemian Rhapsody, by hard facts anyways, is not a well-received film. It was the lowest-rated movie based on Rotten Tomatoes score for a Best Picture nomination since Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close from 2011. It also didn't help that its director had one of the most infamous falling outs in modern history, managing to create the highest-grossing music biopic while still being derailed for being a dirtbag. 

It should've been a moment of celebration, especially given Queen's unique place in pop culture. The only issue is that for as much as the film is celebrated (it currently holds an 8.0 rating on IMDb), it was a moment to discuss what was not only wrong with the biopic genre but why straight-washing queer icons remains a problematic issue. Some have gone so far as to argue that the film's main subject, Freddie Mercury, would absolutely hate his portrayal within the film. It was a mess with no clear winner, even for those who helped earn the film four Oscar wins, making it the biggest winner of the night. The notoriety is likely to live on, at least for those not won over by the spectacle.

Does Rami Malek actually save the film as Mercury? That's more interpretive. The Academy thought so. Still, it was a film that felt warranting discussion, even as the content it encapsulates wears thin and tedious. With the first Failed Oscar Campaign of any given season, I try to capture a film symbolic of "failure" from the year before. Sometimes it's through films that don't even make it, or simply don't win Best Picture. In this case, I've chosen the film that wouldn't go away and won in spite of creating the biggest divide, possibly ever, between critics and audiences when it comes to awards season. Did the Best Popular Film fiasco have anything to do with it? Probably. Still, it's time to discuss the storied road from punchline to Oscar night for a man who deserved more than to have his story be inaccurately portrayed.

- The Campaign -

A Queen biopic had been in the works for years, and with a different team behind it. The most noteworthy group was actor Sacha Baron Cohen and director Stephen Frears. Their goal was to make a more "explicit" version of Mercury's life by portraying his sexuality in what they believed was a more honest form. Cohen was later deemed too much of a comedy actor to play Mercury in a serious manner. Frears also left under disagreements over the script, notably the fact that the film's new focus wasn't going to be on Mercury himself, but the band as a whole. In theory, this made sense given that the surviving members were all hands-on with producing the film to its final form. Add in director Singer and actor Malek, and the film was underway. If nothing else, it set up the myth that the film took special hands to finally perfect the outcome.

That would be true had it not been for Singer, who left with only three weeks of shooting left. Dexter Fletcher was asked to join the film, claiming to be mostly involved with the third act. Malek meanwhile practiced rigorously to get into character, wearing prosthetic teeth and lip-syncing for his life. The film for the time being looked like it could be salvaged, especially as images of Malek as Mercury began to surface. He looked like the real deal as if this was going to be pulled off. Queen was going to have the film that they so desperately deserved to have. It could also be believed when the first official trailer was released and immediately acquired five million views on YouTube within 24 hours. 

Paramount had a surefire hit on their hands, which they needed after a rough 2017 that saw their biggest films (notably Transformers: The Last Knight, Baywatch, and Ghost in the Shell) all fail. It didn't help that their 2017 also included notorious Harvey Weinstein flop Tulip Fever and the maligned mother!, which all failed so spectacularly that it caused 2018's Annihilation to be released internationally on Netflix instead of theatrically, as was the case in the United States. Their other 2018 Oscar contenders were The Hate U Give and Widows, which both failed to gain much traction despite positive reviews. It was quickly becoming clear that Bohemian Rhapsody was their last moment to grasp at straws and suck out the life in this Oscar season. With a successful premiere trailer, they put everything behind it.

This was only the start of the controversy, which stemmed from the most predictable thing. The trailer was accused of straight-washing Mercury's lifestyle. There are scenes that mostly focus on him flirting with women or performing onstage. As much as the trailer promised to show the famous Live Aid performance in grand detail, many were already worrying that the bisexual artist wouldn't get his just desserts. Would they even discuss him dying of AIDS, or that he had boyfriends? The cast and crew reassured audiences that this would be discussed. However, calling AIDS "the disease" didn't help matters, especially as the original intent of the film during the script phase was to emphasize how the band responded to Mercury's diagnosis. For a film about a band (i.e.: multiple people), the choice for the trailer to emphasize "his story" kind of muddied the water too much. Also, Mercury dies off-screen without any true closure or development on his AIDS diagnosis other than that it existed.

The one positive thing throughout was Malek, who received any of the film's acclaim. While it received tepid reviews from throughout film festivals, it was quickly becoming clear that it was Paramount's Oscar contender. However, things looked to be derailing quickly when Singer was revealed to have sexual harassment allegations in March 2019. While he was already seen as a hack for leaving the project that close to the end, it created discussion about Singer's work ethic and how much Fletcher did in his place. It also revealed the conflict between Malek and Singer, who refused to acknowledge his director in awards speeches. With sexual harassment and ditching a project following Singer, he still got the Best Director campaign from Paramount. It never took off, but it undermined Fletcher's sacrifice of getting no director credit, thanks to the D.G.A. rulebook, and showed how much of the film was a hot mess behind the scenes. It was so bad that GLAAD would rescind their nomination for Singer after his controversy surfaced.

This wasn't as apparent for audiences outside of the average Twitter conversation. The film opened well, eventually becoming the film that wouldn't go away. With over $900 million acquired during its theatrical run, it became the highest-grossing music biopic in history along with the same honor for LGBT film and top film without any action or fantasy. It is, as of September 2019, Paramount's fourth highest-grossing movie of all time. Many praised the shot-for-shot remake of Live Aid, believing that it helped to solidify Malek's performance as something more genuine and effortless. He was Malek to most people. Even Oscar voters like Mindy Kaling would praise the film for how it moved her, especially to see Mercury, a Pakistani immigrant, succeed in the world of music. It was inspirational in the way that all music biopics were, one would say.

Along with the misguided views on sexuality that were themselves harmful and pandering, the film was also accused of inaccuracy. The most noteworthy example was how Mercury was diagnosed with AIDS prior to Live Aid when it was years after the fact (and Queen technically never broke up). However, the moment that received the most scrutiny was editing (Thomas Flight's video above better explains what's wrong with it). Many felt it represented the epitome of its failure to be a coherent narrative, especially as it pushed fellow music drama A Star is Born away from a surefire victory in the 2018 season. The criticism was so widespread that editor John Ottoman eventually responded that he was trying to compile clips from two different directors and feels he could've done a better job. Whereas Malek got brownie points for moving like Mercury, there wasn't enough credit to what made Bradley Cooper's remake shine. The two were constantly compared throughout the season. If that wasn't flattering enough, David Ehrlich of Indiewire aptly compared the film to parody film Walk Hard, which deconstructed all of the tropes that Bohemian Rhapsody was accused of using poorly.

The first true hurricane came when the film won Best Drama at the Golden Globes. Many saw it as the first moment where it was a serious Oscar contender and not just some flash in the pan hit. It caused many to scrutinize it even further and more harshly. The hostility grew between it and fellow Golden Globe winner Green Book, which were both films that were looked down upon as being antiquated in all the wrong ways. When Eighth Grade actress Elsie Fisher claimed that she loved Bohemian Rhapsody, she got an earful from Twitter that suggested she shouldn't. Nobody wanted anyone to like Bohemian Rhapsody, and it showed as the months carried on and the Singer news only grew more vitriolic. In an era of Me Too, many found rewarding the film as rewarding a pedophile who groomed boys going back over 20 years to his film Apt Pupil, which had one of his most notorious misuses of underage actors.

Still, there wasn't anything to truly stop Bohemian Rhapsody after the film took off. The final act got people to watch the real one on YouTube, and music sales skyrocketed for the band yet again. Even Rocket Man, Fletcher's next film, had a trailer attached to later screenings of the film to help raise interest in another queer music icon. The only issue with that is many were skeptical now of Fletcher for Singer's error, and many were relieved to discover that Rocket Man would be entirely sung by the actors and have decent editing and use of sexuality. That film has yet to match the cultural zeitgeist that Bohemian Rhapsody did in part because it took things more seriously, warranting that R-Rating. Still, with an additional sing-along rerelease, Bohemian Rhapsody was moving into Oscar season with guns blazing. For whatever it did wrong, it did enough right to sell everyone on what, financially, was one of the biggest films of the year. It was so big that there was even a subdivision of music movies that year like Vox Lux and Her Smell that were considered to be the opposite version of films like Bohemian Rhapsody and A Star is Born. 

- The Payoff -

To tangent real quick, The Academy spent the summer of 2018 creating and then dismantling the Best Popular Film category. It was meant to represent films that audiences loved that presumably weren't arty. While many argue that Black Panther was the real benefactor for that title, many couldn't predict that Bohemian Rhapsody would be as big of a hit as it did. If any film truly benefited from this short-lived astigmatism, it was the Singer film. To its credit, it connected with audiences so much that it got nominated for Best Picture. When suggesting live acts for the broadcast, Queen with Adam Lambert (who makes a cameo in the film) was announced as the opener. Comparatively, most of the actual Best Original Song nominees failed to make the original line-up until A Star is Born's Lady Gaga publicly asked them to. Queen was already getting favoritism, even having the surviving band members show up to the ceremony and participate in a moment parodying Wayne's World, itself a film that owes a lot to the titular song from Queen.

As mentioned, the film won four Oscars. This made it the biggest winner of the night. Malek would win Best Actor, giving a speech that was Singer-free but highlighted the importance of representation in Hollywood. Likewise, it received Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Design. Despite all of the criticism, the film also won Best Editing, which leads to nonstop ridicule of the win for style over substance. It even leads to this video parodying the manic editing style:

In theory, the film won everything it needed for that Oscar season. It never left the conversation while films like The Favourite never quite got as publicly recognized. Still, many could argue it got attention for the wrong reasons. Queen band member Bryan May would go so far as to suggest that  "The mistake that critics made was reviewing the trailer instead of reviewing the film. They jumped to conclusions. Once people stake their claim, it's hard for them to withdraw." Of course, he was a producer on the film and not someone judging it as more than a chance to butt into Mercury's biopic, so there's no need to take this as more than him being a wacky inflatable arm flailing tube man. 

The immediate legacy of Queen is obvious in some respects. Singer's notoriety helped him get dropped from a Red Sonja project. It was also revealed that he was less than stellar while working on the X-Men movies (notably Apocalypse). He's practically exited Hollywood at this point. Meanwhile, Fletcher's Rocket Man proved to be a decent enough success, at least earning more critical praise than Bohemian Rhapsody and more well wishes to its central artist. However, there's already doubt that magic cannot be made twice for Fletcher, as star Taron Edgerton is facing an uphill battle for that Oscar nomination. Still, the black cloud left from Bohemian Rhapsody is felt positively and negatively, mostly with the songs being revived in TV commercials internationally.

The film was a towering giant that sucked up everything that stood in its way. No press was too bad for it to make it to Oscar night. No perceived ineptitude could keep it from winning. It had a mountain of criticism, but it still prevailed as a towering homage to what The Academy was likely intending with Best Popular Film. Is this a good or bad thing? Who knows. Still, it is among the most notorious Best Picture nominees of the 21st century and likely will continue to not go away, even if it's just for beating out the more organic A Star is Born for many prizes. With that said, it likely helped to revive the music biopic genre into something fresh and exciting, so expect more of those to be appearing in the next few years. Hopefully, they will be better than this, but nothing is for certain.