‘Bohemian Rhapsody’: the least-deserving Oscar win of all time
The Academy Awards has always been the most prestigious ceremony in cinema, annually handing out shiny statuettes to those whose contributions to film are considered the finest of the bunch, from terrific directors to masterful editors. Yet, how can we really put our trust in the Academy when they’ve routinely made questionable decisions, like awarding some truly awful films ‘Best Picture’ and snubbing some of the most impressive acting performances of all time?
The Oscars aren’t without controversy, with many people speaking up about the lack of diversity reflected in the nominees, such as the ‘Best Director’ category rarely featuring anyone who isn’t a white man. With the #MeToo and #OscarsSoWhite hashtags highlighting abuse, sexism, and racism in Hollywood, attention has been drawn to the fact that the Oscars just aren’t an accurate and well-rounded picture of each year’s best cinematic exports.
You only have to look at some of the films that the Academy has awarded to realise that perhaps we should just take the ceremony with a pinch of salt. There are many filmmakers and actors who are undeserving of their Oscar wins, but there’s one from recent years that feels more egregious than any other – Bohemian Rhapsody. Let’s start with the fact that the film, a biopic on the popular British band Queen and their lead singer Freddie Mercury, was directed by Bryan Singer, a man who has been accused of raping and sexually assaulting several underage boys. These allegations, which began in the 1990s, were known at the time of Singer’s involvement in directing the film, which went on to earn a ‘Best Picture’ nomination.
Moreover, it’s bizarre that the film was nominated because, besides Singer’s abuse accusations, it’s just not a good movie – at all. Reviews were mixed, with many critics slating the movie for being full of clichés and poor directorial choices. Mercury was played by Rami Malek, but it’s certainly one of his most divisive performances. Trying his best to emulate the distinctive lead singer, Malek sticks his mouth out and wears fake teeth in a distracting attempt to more closely resemble the star, but he just ends up looking uncomfortable. While Mercury was known for his distinctive mouth, there’s something off about Malek’s attempt to mirror the musician’s mannerisms.
Yet, somehow, it was Malek that took home ‘Best Actor’, beating Christian Bale for Vice, Viggo Mortensen for Green Book, Willem Dafoe for At Eternity’s Gate, and Bradley Cooper for A Star is Born. Was the actor’s Oscar really well deserved? Not really. But that’s not our main gripe with Bohemian Rhapsody’s multiple Academy wins – the worst of all was the film’s win for ‘Best Film Editing’. Awarded to John Ottman, a frequent collaborator of Singer’s, the prize caused lots of discussion online because Bohemian Rhapsody’s editing was just simply awful.
Beating films like The Favourite, BlacKkKlansman, Green Book, and Vice, all of which were more worthy contenders, people made YouTube video essays and Twitter threads about the movie’s awful editing. A clip from the film, which sees Queen meet with their manager, went viral online, with users laughing at how many quick cuts were placed in a scene that simply didn’t require them. With no motivation for these fast-paced cuts from one face to another, and with certain shots even feeling like they’d been edited in the wrong order, social media users couldn’t quite believe that this was the film that had taken home a prize for editing.
It doesn’t take an expert to notice the jarring editing techniques used within the film, and for that, we believe that Bohemian Rhapsody is one of the most undeserving Oscar wins of all time – especially when the masterfully crafted The Favourite, edited by Yorgos Mavropsaridis, was right there.
