Bohemian Rhapsody was the movie I was very much looking forward to seeing it. I didn’t really know what to expect, especially reading the controversial reviews published online.

I have just turned my first year as a teenager when one cold November day I saw Freddie Mercury letting the world know he was HIV positive and not doing well. Short afterwards, he passed away. And couldn’t believe it, just as much I couldn’t comprehend his interview earlier.

The day after November 24, 2018, was a very dull, grey and even colder one. I was walking the streets in Plovdiv but was not seeing anything. My eyes were full of tears. Freddie was gone.

I wasn’t the biggest Queen fan. I had just a few favourite songs, but that was because I was able to listen to their full discography only later in time. But I was Freddie Mercury’s fan.

My parents had a few mixed tapes I was playing on repeat as an adolescent. One of them had Bohemian Rhapsody and I was fascinated. Later on, I watched Highlander, and I just loved the soundtrack (featuring Who Wants To Live Forever). In my mind, no one else could move between tones as Freddie Mercury did. (That or my access to music was very limited, for which I naturally blame my parents and the communist government. ;))

But it wasn’t until I saw the video of Breakthru in the summer of 1989 while visiting the other side of the Iron Curtain, that I understood how much attention this man demands simply by his performance. It wasn’t the moving train Queen was playing on. It wasn’t Brian May’s hair, which for some reason was not waving in all directions. It was Freddie and only Freddie grabbing my attention, possessing it.

In the years after that video came out and his following passing, I’ve watched several live performance recordings. Up to this day, I cannot think of anyone else owning the stage and the microphone as he did. It is as if he was born right there with an extra limb – the mic.

Last night, while I was watching Bohemian Rhapsody, all this emotion came back to me. My eyes flooded again. Rami Malek managed to get close to Freddie Mercury’s presence exuded and take me on a trip to Memory Lane. And I loved it.

Thank you!

Photo credit: IMDb

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