Freddie Mercury: The Great Pretender

Made by the same filmmakers responsible for last year's well-received Queen chronicle Days of Our Lives, this documentary tells the story of front man Freddie Mercury (1946–91). But rather than focus on Mercury the band leader, the film instead documents his early years, personal life, and brief solo career while taking a mid-1980s break from Queen. Producer-director Thomas uses archival footage along with old and new interviews to contrast Mercury's flamboyantly bombastic stage persona with his much more reserved true character, showing how he really was a "great pretender." Thomas has unearthed plenty of rare footage, both aural and visual, including snippets of unreleased demos of Mercury dueting with Rod Stewart and Michael Jackson, a flirtatious and funny 1985 TV interview, and clips of Mercury performing Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" with the Royal Ballet. Bonus features include the full 1985 interview and a lengthy conversation with opera singer Montserrat Caballe, with whom Mercury sang on the genre-blending album Barcelona.