«Bohemian Rhapsody» and «Rocket man», biopics that give birth to others

 The biography of Freddy Mercury brought to the screen on the very reasonable film «Bohemian Rhapsody» was it a trigger, still it is that the musical biopics are in vogue these last months: Judie Garland, David Bowie (in negotiation), Elvis Presley, and others being shot at this moment. Having attended “Bohemian Rhapsody” a few months ago, I waited to attend “Rocket Man”, the fictional biography of Elton John, supervised by him, to compare two angles of view of the cinematographic genre. And in fact, we are dealing with two approaches to life stories, diametrically opposed. In both biographies, for purists, mistakes are legion, but that is the least of the worries. After all, for both, these are mainstream films for which it does not matter whether the songs are performed at the right time. 

 Rami Melek in a stage scene of the film

Another important fact is that «Rocket man» was realized during the lifetime of Elton John, moreover under his direction, while «Bohemian Rhapsody» was conceived 17 years after the death of Mercury, under the intransigent eye of Brian May and Roger Taylor, Queen’s guitarist and drummer, respectively. 

 Melek with the real Brian May and Roger Tayler

 So far, nothing can affect the quality of the film I admit that the performance of actor Rami Malek in the role of Freddy Mercury has the merit of being of some restraint, and even if the character does not possess the charisma of the mythical singer of Queen, the performance resides in his gestures on stage, impressive during the famous «Live Aid», which imposes itself as the highlight of a film that does not seek to exceed a rather realistic style, focused mainly on the important relationships that the composer maintained throughout his life with characters that will matter to him. 

scene from the charity show "Live aid", the 20 minutes of show remains in the movie

The musicians actors also followed to the letter the advice of May and Taylor, while the bass player John Deacon had not participated in the development of the film. In short, for an audience that is not supposed to know the band’s life, Bryan Singer managed to make a human biography, without going too far. If «Bohemian Rhapsody» ends in 1985, before Mercury’s disease, the director avoids the inevitable pathos scenes that would have caused the last straight line of the singer touched by AIDS. He preferred to finish the biopic during these 20 minutes at Wembley, which were of crucial importance for the group that was starting to disintegrate. It took these 5 songs (visible on Youtube) to cement the relationships of the musicians, and prolong the life of the band until the death of the singer in 1992. 

«Rocket man», Elton John’s biopic by director Dexter Fletcher falls into another category. While “Bohemian Rhapsody” focused more on Mercury’s human connection in his private life, Elton’s biography insists (Taron Egerton on the screen) on the difficulty of relationships with his family, from his youth, but relates above all the decade in which the singer had lost control of his life, lost in solitude, and drowned in all sorts of destructive substances from which he managed to escape. 

 The young and shy Elton (Tagerton), lived his glam period between 1972-1975

A victory that is symbolized by the parody of the clip of «I’m still standing», the composer’s period of rebirth. In fact, the musical part of Elton’s life takes a back seat, and the songs that make up the soundtrack are based on the period 1972-1975, when 5% of the record market worked thanks to the composer of «Your song». In his autobiography Elton chose the format of the musical, with his voluntary dose of surrealism, mixing hallucination and reality, according to the wish of the singer. 

 Elton John and his love, David  Furnish, went to Cannes to present "Rocket Man" (2019)

The actors can start singing at any moment, making a side more cinematic, more glamorous but without concessions, with the risk of getting tired after 90 minutes. And in fact, this is what the spectator feels, following a lack of reference in time, of repetitive scenes or the artist gets lost in his excesses, and, succeded a «happy end» (real, that said). At the key, he regains the awareness of his talent and the path of his life thanks to an abstinence still followed today. This ten-year struggle, which Elton John finally defeated, appears as his true victory in his life, as he likes to recall during each concert as the one I saw in Lille (France), a few months ago.