[KineJapan] Bohemian Rhapsody in Japan

[Gerow Aaron]

On our last day in Portland, the family and I went to see Bohemian Rhapsody in the theater. I am not really a Queen fan; in fact my main interest was trying to think why this was such a huge hit in Japan. As of today, it’s made $55 million at the Japanese BO (with predictions it will go over $70 million), with Japan being the film’s third biggest non-US market (the South Korean BO numbers are higher, but it opened there earlier). 

I did not like the film that much, for its mythification of Freddie and predictable direction, but I wonder why it has not only made a bunch at the Japanese BO, but also came in number 1 in Pia’s satisfaction survey for all of 2018. 

My inclination is to look at both its melodrama and its depiction of family—and the promise of mass unity—but I was wondering what others think, or what others might have written about this.


Aaron Gerow
Professor
Film and Media Studies Program/East Asian Languages and Literatures
Director of Graduate Studies, Film and Media Studies
Yale University
143 Elm Street, Room 210
PO Box 208324
New Haven, CT 06520-8324
USA
Phone: 1-203-432-7082
Fax: 1-203-432-6729
e-mail: aaron.gerow at yale.edu <mailto:aaron.gerow at yale.edu>
website: www.aarongerow.com

















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