Rocketman

Movie 'Rocketman' (2019): A picture of Elton John's ups and downs

The movie 'Rocketman' - a biographical film tells the story of the legendary novice Elton John. The scene where he married a woman met in the studio. They just got married and in the next scene, they ate breakfast and broke up. They take less than 1 minute. We know nothing about their lives. How does John treat his wife to make her suffer like that? Or, how does a gay person treat his wife, leading to the line "Is marriage happy? I'm gay ".

Movie 'Rocketman' (2019): A picture of Elton John's ups and downs

Rocketman is full of scenes like that. The scenario presented a situation, quite well, but not resolved to the end. Do not dare to come. Such as the uncertain relationship between Elton and the handsome manager Reid (Richard Madden, reminiscent of the young Brat Pitt). The relationship between them is just a close ... and cut. There were no sex scenes on film. While sex is a very important factor in the life and music of Elton John. "I'm addicted to sex," he said during the session.

When I enjoyed it, it felt like this movie was both being censored and censored. There were many things that could be exploited about Elton John, the symbol of music and the symbol of homosexuals from the 1980s. There were not many artists who dared to show their sex at the time, especially in a noble society. as harsh as England. Rocketman is like a song that always reaches its climax, but cannot reach it. After learning, I knew why: The movie was produced by Elton John and her husband, David Furnish.

Rocketman is the memory recounted in Elton John's rehab sessions. The opening scene is when he wears a sparkling demonic suit, coming out of a show. Then, little by little as he remembered, John stripped off every part of that outfit, like the cover he had put on himself from the day he walked on stage, to find and heal his true self: A child. lack of love. Rocketman exploits John's tragedy in terms of family, rather than gender. An innocent and cold father, an irresponsible mother, a broken family become wounds and ghosts haunt him all his life.

Like the recent music legend, Bohemian Rhapsody, for example, the 'Rocketman' beat was pushed too fast. Like a detailed summary book, instead of a complete story. We are provided with some basic information and then leapfrogging a new step in Elton John's life. Of course, limited time is difficult, but it will be solved with convincing details.

Unfortunately, the details in the movie are simple, formulas and lackluster. As if to describe John's lack of affection for his father, the film only gives a hug that never comes, a disc that is untouched, a reminder of a book for girls. We need something sharper, for a unique life and career like Elton's.

Director Dexter Fletcher, who "extinguished" the Bohemian Rhapsody when Bryan Singer fled, actually did a great job of leading Rocketman. Despite the plot shortages, he connected the smooth, creative sequences. The songs and dances are beautifully presented, energetic. The best is in the first scene in the movie 'Rocketman', Elton performed in Troubadour club, Hollywood, when he was flying in the air with Crocodile Rock.

A step from the shy and scared guy to a real artist, from a gay man who always has to brace himself to be liberated himself. On stage, the artist is both acting and not acting. Fletcher also brought surrealism in the second and final scene, when Elton John was engulfed in alcohol and drugs. That's exactly the world of addicts who feel: Indistinguishable from space and time.

The biggest star of the movie is, of course, Taron Egerton, the Kingsman agent increasingly proving his talent and maturity. He brings a convincing Elton John from appearance to personality. Pay attention to the small facial expressions, the eye contact, the gesture as if inadvertently expressing gender ... to see how much Egerton invested.

I greatly appreciate the way Egerton transforms the characters over time with very sweet changing moments, like in Troubadour. He also sings the songs in 'Rocketman' himself, though not exactly like John, but not inferior to any singer. Songs like Your Song, Rocketman, Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word ... will definitely be heard a lot these days.

Unfortunately, Rocketman is not a real biography, that is, a deep exploitation of a person. This is just a way that Elton John polishes himself, instead of writing a memoirs, with an ending with I'm Still Standing as in chicken soup. Depicting an artist through family tragedy is far too ordinary. We know nothing more, more different or more profound about him. What makes his difference on stage? Or the origin of the famous songs? Or, more to the point, his connection with others?

Like the bride, the supporting characters are fuzzy and very different from what we know. They are like shadows for John. Especially the famous Bernie Taupin, "Bethoveen of light music", who wrote the lyrics for John and many other artists at that time. In the movie 'Rocketman', he appears as a freeloader who doesn't contribute much to John's success. Their relationship is also only halfway, with a failed kiss and countless black spaces. Like when they "had to live in the same house" like John Lennon and Paul McCartney for example. Before we know anything about that time, they were ... kicked out of the house.

Watching Rocketman , I felt like a real-life Elton John was hiding somewhere, and shouting "cut" on unsafe parts. A shy and daring John who doesn't show much about himself. A somewhat calculating John wants to honor himself, rather than show it, with a dramatic theatrical tragedy. A more attractive John with light and dark colors, but not appear on film. Strangely, I feel that I understand Elton John by what is not in Rocketman, not what is present.

'Rocketman' created a successful musical and a failed biography. It has everything it needs to be an excellent movie, a director's tactics, a male lead's acting, classic songs ... Unfortunately, the only thing missing is the most important thing: Freedom. Biographical films are very much in need of independence, in order to reach the end of man. Elton John in this movie, despite taking off that showy outfit, still can't get rid of the true cover. Because artists only live on stage. In cinema, there's always a different hand.

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