Priscilla Review, Venice Film Festival: Sofia Coppola Drama Will Be Very Uncomfortable Viewing For Elvis Fans
Priscilla , Sofia Coppola's love story between 24-year-old Elvis and 14-year-old Priscilla Presley, nicknamed Beaulieu, will make King fans uncomfortable to watch. It portrays him in an unflattering light, an insecure narcissist obsessed with a teenage girl who refuses to give his new wife his freedom. The film was endorsed by Presley himself and is based on his book Elvis and Me (which he co-wrote with Sandra Harmon). It's a measured, seductive affair, and barely has the exuberance of Baz Luhrmann's Elvis of yesteryear.
"We live separate lives," Priscilla ( Easttown's Mary's Callie Spani ) tells Elvis ( Euphoria's Jacob Ellordi) at the end of the film, which had its world premiere in competition at the Venice Film Festival. To be honest, though, he always seemed to exist on the fringes of their world, from their first meeting when he attended a German high school to his meeting Elvis while serving in the US Army. When Priscilla is invited to Elvis' house for the first time and breaks away from his life of anxiety and boredom, she takes the opportunity to experience some excitement. Her father, a military officer, is extremely reluctant at first to allow her to hang out with Elvis and his friends. But when he became sure that his daughter would be severely imprisoned, he backed down.
Elvis prefers Priscilla. She is a student and he cares a lot about her. They talk for a long time and soon become closer. She mourns her mother's recent death and, despite her youth, considers Priscilla someone she can trust. Elordi tries to play Elvis. She has the voice and body for the part, but lacks charm and vulnerability. At first, she tries to control Priscilla, telling her what to wear and insisting that she dye her hair black.
Returning to the United States with her family, Priscilla assumes that Elvis has forgotten her until she is summoned to the Memphis home. At times, alone and abandoned in Elvis' mansion, Priscilla looks more like the heroine of a chilling Gothic novel by the Brontë sisters than someone from a rock 'n' roll movie.
Spaeny offers a riveting and compelling portrait of a brilliant young woman whose mind is slowly breaking down. Vernon, Elvis' father, is mean and cruel to him. When he enters the office to talk to his secretaries, she scolds him for distracting her from work. Elvis himself still travels to Hollywood to make movies, leaving it behind. When he is at home, he spends most of his time drinking and playing pool with his male colleagues, the so-called Memphis Mafia.
When Elvis becomes interested in crazy religious ideas, he asks Priscilla to accompany him on his spiritual journey. At one point, they take psychedelic drugs together. Despite his obsession with Priscilla, Elvis does not sleep with her. On the contrary, she seems more willing to sleep with him than with him. Finally, when Priscilla is 21, they marry and have a daughter, Lisa Marie, but her arrival makes him no longer aware of her.
There is very little Elvis music on the soundtrack. Instead, Coppola opens the film with the Ramones' "Baby I Love You" as Priscilla puts on fake nails and eyelashes. The Colonel, Elvis' infamous manager who starred in Tom Hanks' Elvis last year, is mentioned but never seen.
The director tells the story of his character in short, independent episodes that are not always connected and not always fully explained. Everything is seen from Priscilla's point of view. She is a young woman who has grown up in the strangest environment imaginable. His Elvis is very different from the rock star everyone seems to love.
Coppola, in her cool and analytical way, makes an important point about how Priscilla is controlled by the men in her life. He lives in a golden cage. The wealth and luxury you experience cannot compensate for the complete loss of freedom. And Elvis may have been king, but his backyard was actually a pretty scary place based on the evidence presented here.
Director: Sofia Coppola. Starring: Kylie Spani, Jacob Ilordi, Dagmara Dominczyk. 110 minutes.
Priscilla opens in selected UK cinemas on December 26th and hits the big screen on January 1st.
