FREDDIE MERCURY – The Great Pretender
Eagle Vision www.eagle-rock.com
Following on from last year’s award winning documentary on Queen comes one on Freddie Mercury. Produced by the same team which includes Queen superfan and comedian Rhys Thomas, this is a must have for Queen and Freddie fans.
After watching the film you realise what a shy person Freddie Mercury really was despite his larger than life stage presence. There are fascinating interviews with Brian May and Roger Taylor (wish someone would track down John Deacon as I am sure he would have much to tell as well), Queen manager Jim Beach, producer Mack and Mike Moran, who worked on Freddie’s solo material. Plus we get the first listen to Freddie Mercury’s unreleased work with Rod Stewart and Michael Jackson – only snippets as I assume a full release may follow at some point in the future.
There are outtakes galore from Queen and his solo videos and footage of his 39th birthday party in Munich, which shows briefly some of the wild goings on! Don’t expect a chronological run through his life or a big focus on Queen, as this is more about Freddie as a person and his various solo works. There is a fascinating bonus feature that has an interview with opera singer Monsterrat Caballe, who famously dusted with Freddie on the ‘Barcelona’ album. That album has just been re-issued with a full orchestral score and this forms part of the bonus features. The final bonus feature is an interview with Freddie from the time around the release of his solo album ‘Mr Bad Guy’. Bits of this appear in other Queen DVD’s but this is most of the interview in full. He gives some insight into his very private world and has a naturally sharp wit.
If you know a Queen fan this is their Christmas present sorted and if you are a fan and can’t wait then go treat yourself. A well rounded, enjoyable film on one of the greatest singers of all time.
*****
Jason Ritchie
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Power Plays w/c 11 November 2024
ARCANE MOON Hello Sun (indie)
S8NT ELEKTRIC XTC (Long Branch Records)
ARCANA KINGS Here We Go (Curtain Call Records)
KLOGR face The Unknown (Zeta Factory)
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Interview with RHYS THOMAS - Get Ready to ROCK! Reviews | Interviews:
October 7th, 2012 at 20:11
[...] and ‘Down The Line’ to name but a few) and has directed the new documentary on Freddie Mercury, ‘The Great Pretender’. He is a massive Queen fan and was also involved in last year’s excellent documentary on the [...]