From Queenpedia.com

Revision as of 21:37, 14 May 2007

In 1995, Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon returned to Mountain Studios in Montreux, Switzerland, to work on finishing the tracks they had begun with Freddie Mercury during the early part of 1991. The resulting album, 'Made In Heaven', was the final chapter in the band's legacy with Freddie, and featured polished versions of songs they had never managed to finish before - some came from as far back as the 'Hot Space' sessions in 1982, and two tracks were carefully reworked, almost unrecognisable versions of songs Freddie originally recorded for his 'Mr Bad Guy' solo album. Another, 'Heaven For Everyone', started life as a song by Roger's solo project The Cross, on which Freddie had sung a guest vocal - and Queen's reworked version became the first single from the 'Made In Heaven' project.

Unfortunately, Freddie's absence meant that filming videos for any single release from the album was somewhat difficult, until someone within the Queen camp came up with a near perfect solution.

Brian: "I can't actually remember where the idea came from originally, but it emerged that the BFI were very short of funds to enable some of their young directors to get started. We thought this would solve many problems with one stroke. We'll give them some money, they can figure out the most deserving cause to give it to and they can make whatever videos they like for the music."

This was an unusual situation for Queen to be in - for the first time they were completely hands off, allowing the young directors and the BFI to decide how to represent their music. The result was eight very different short films which used songs from the 'Made In Heaven' album as their starting point and soundtrack, and could be shown the world over to promote the album.

The results were critically acclaimed, even if Queen fans were somewhat unresponsive, and two of the films ended up becoming the official promotional videos for the single releases of the songs they represented. Now available on vhs and dvd, it is best to leave evaluation to the willing individual, but the details below are a brief summary of each piece in turn.

I Was Born To Love You

I Was Born To Love You (dir. Richard Heslop)

Directed by celebrated music video director Richard Heslop, I Was Born To Love You features the song of the same name. It is a celebration of life and love in all its forms. Utilising an edited version of the song compared to the standard cd album cut, it features the inhabitants of a block of council flats of every sexual persuasion. Couples kiss, kids play, and teenagers steal and destroy a car in this monochrome piece.

Heslop, who had previously worked on videos for The Smiths and New Order, continued to make music videos for the likes of The Cure, before directing the tv series Residents and State Of Party.

Evolution

Evolution (dir. Simon Pummell)

Directed by Simon Pummell, Evolution takes its inspiration from the song 'Heaven For Everyone'. Evolution intends to represent the hopes and fears of the world at large, and features performance artist Stelarc building and interacting with a robotic arm.

Pummell continues to make challenging short films and in 2003 made the award winning documentary Bodysong.

Heart-Ache

Heart-Ache (dir. Simon Pummell)

Simon Pummell also directed Heart-Ache, the short film which used 'Too Much Love Will Kill You' as its inspiration. The film portays a young couple who are on the verge of breaking up, watched intently by an old lady. The male leaves and decides to demonstrate his affection for his love by getting a 'True Love' tattoo on his arm. He returns to her and she finally understands just how much she means to him. As they dance together they turn into the watchful old lady and her partner, who go to sit down... as they do so, the man fades away, and the mournful woman is left alone to remember her lost love.

This piece was apparently Brian May's favourite of all the films produced for the project.

O

O (dir. Nicholas Bruce)

'My Life Has Been Saved' was the inspiration for Nichola Bruce's O, which celebrates the circular form. Using time as its principle theme, the piece is among the more unusual made for the project, combining rotating images of both the natural world and man made objects with footage of the human body and computer animation.

Nichola Bruce continues to make short films and documentaries, and also worked on the Blood Of Eden video for Peter Gabriel.

You Don't Fool Me

'You Don't Fool Me' was directed by Mark Szaszy, and took its inspiration from the song of the same name. The film is a contemporary tale of androgyny in Western society, and features a young couple making love in the woods, and flashbacks to the moment they met in a bustling nightclub.

This film was one of only two made for the project that was used to promote a single, and as such an alternate edit was included on the 'Greatest Flix III' vhs in 1999, and another extended edit was made to accompany the Dancing Divaz Club Mix of the song when the single was released two years earlier.

Szaszy continues to make documentaries, and also directed several music videos for Oasis.

Outside-In

Outside-In (dir. Chris Rodley)

Directed by Chris Rodley, Outside-In took its inspiration from the final song Freddie Mercury ever wrote, 'A Winter's Tale'. Interestingly, the film draws an eerie parallel with the last months of Freddie's life, as it portrays a dying man's last fevered dreams of the beautiful landscapes he has seen around the world. These descend into a wash of colours and textures, bringing a sense of intoxication and delirium before he finally surrenders to his fate.

Chris Rodley has since made several notable music documentaries for television, and worked on Alan Yentob's acclaimed series Imagine.

Return Trip

Return Trip, a film directed by Bernard Rudden, was made to accompany the anthemic gospel-tinged 'Let Me Live'. It depicts a married couple on the verge of breaking up, who have become completely unable to communicate with one another.

This film was one of only two from the project to be used to promote a single release from the album, and as such an alternate edit appears on the 'Greatest Hits III' vhs, released in 1999.

Bernard Rudden continues to make short films.

Mother Love

Mother Love (dir. Jim Gillespie)

Whilst many directors would take the last recording worked on by Freddie Mercury before his death, and make an intentionally melancholic piece that examines the meaning of grief, or perhaps summarises Freddie's life and work... director Jim Gillespie instead chose to make an intriguing piece of science fiction to accompany the song of the same name.

Surprisingly, it works. The film depicts a crew member of the deep space cruiser Gagarin, as he engages in a deadly game of cat and mouse with an alien adversary in deepest space, as the rest of the crew remain in cryogenic freeze. Whilst he reminisces about the life he left behind on earth, the alien takes the form of his lost love, and tricks the astronaut into making a painful sacrifice.

Jim Gillespie has had the most success of any of the directors given funding for the project, having gone on to direct the films I Know What You Did Last Summer, D-Tox and Venom.

Credits

Availability

• All films - Made In Heaven: The Films vhs, Made In Heaven: The Films dvd
• Return Trip (alt edit) - Greatest Flix III vhs
• You Don't Fool Me (alt edit) - Greatest Flix III vhs