★★★★ ‘A moving and lovingly composed portrayal’ INDEPENDENT
A hard-hitting documentary ending with an outpouring of love’ PEOPLE
★★★★★ ‘Engrossing’ DAILY MAIL | ★★★★★ ‘Deeply moving’ TV Times
‘Fabulous’ SUNDAY TIMES ‘Brilliant. Wonderful. Moving. Uplifting.’ RADIO 5
Thirty years after Freddie died (in November 1991) from complications of AIDS, Freddie Mercury: The Final Act movingly captures the last years of his life.
The film follows the story from Freddie’s last concert to the tribute concert itself which took place on April 20th 1992. The documentary features new interviews with many of those who were closest to him, including Queen members Brian May and Roger Taylor, Freddie’s sister Kashmira Bulsara, his friends Anita Dobson and David Wigg and his PA, Peter Freestone.
The film also hears from those who saw the impact of HIV/AIDS first hand, either as medical practitioners, survivors, or human rights campaigners, including Peter Tatchell. It starts in 1986, as Queen’s Magic tour reaches its awesome climax at Knebworth Stadium in Hertfordshire and Freddie Mercury proves himself to be one of the greatest rock performers that the world has known.
“Freddie opened up his heart and gave it everything he had. He was a musician through and through and through. He lived for his music. He loved his music, and he was proud of himself as a musician above everything else.” Brian May, Queen.
Over the next few years however, he would secretly battle HIV/AIDS – a disease that was killing millions and intensifying homophobia.
In the tragic aftermath of Freddie’s death, his bandmates Brian May and Roger Taylor, along with Queen’s manager Jim Beach, devised a plan. They approached a range of stellar artists including Elton John, David Bowie and Annie Lennox and decided to commemorate their friend’s life with what would become one of the biggest concerts in history.
The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert was attended by over 70,000 people, with over a billion viewers on television. With one collective voice, for four glorious hours, the concert not only celebrated Freddie, but it also placed HIV/AIDS clearly in the spotlight and raised awareness of the disease.
About the stigma surrounding HIV/AIDS at the time, Roger Taylor says: “We were very angry and we had to stick up for our friend – our best friend. I became fixated with the idea of giving him a hell of a send-off.”
Freddie Mercury: The Final Act is a story about friendship, love and a fight against prejudice – shown by the way in which Freddie’s friends created a joyful celebration of his life, which not only burnished his reputation as one of the world’s great musical performers, but which also helped change social attitudes.