“Elvis” opens with a succession of high-speed images from different points in the life of the rock legend, and suddenly takes us to the circus. It is all colorful and very loud. It might not be what you’d expect from an Elvis Presley biopic, but every Baz Luhrmann film is a Baz Luhrmann film before anything else. The Australian director returns to theaters almost a decade after “The Great Gatsby”, and does so with a biopic that is not a biopic, a musical that is not a musical and a drama that is not a drama. And at the same time are these three things, and so much more.
The film is not an Elvis Presley biopic to use because it is not an introspective story nor follows a strictly chronological order, it is not even told from his point of view but from that of his manager, Colonel Tom Parker (Tom Hanks). Throughout the film, we see major milestones in the king of rock’s life since he was discovered in his native Mississippi by this businessman, who knows the importance of creating a good performance around an artist if he really wants to achieve. the success. . But Lurhmann allows himself to jump back and forth in Presley’s too-short timeline to shape the plot according to the subject he wants to deal with. Because ‘Elvis’ isn’t a drama either, or it’s not just a drama. It is a very complete film that uses a figure as well known and imitated as Elvis Presley to talk about mythomania, fame, fans, entertainment. and many other things. The relationship between Elvis and the colonel is very interesting, as the singer becomes so grateful for having practically opened the gates of heaven to him that he does not question any of the decisions concerning his career that contradict his own dreams of him. It is a parasitic relationship that has more than enough twists to justify the colonel’s choice as narrator. Hanks, beyond a characterization that he sometimes manages to take from the film, shows an evil face that we are not used to and that manages to make our hair stand on end at certain moments. There has been a lot of talk about his changing accent of him, but perhaps it was a creative decision to point out that he is as false as the dreams he promises to his protégés. As he himself says in the film, he’s not a colonel, he’s not Tom, he’s not Parker.
Luhrmann also uses Presley to give us a review of the evolution of American society from the 50s to the 70s. That first concert in which an audience rooted in Puritanism begins to experience things they had never tried before (and doesn’t know if it’s okay to hear them ) only in seeing him move his hips, that feeling of disinhibition, of authentic musical and physical orgasm. How that liberation was persecuted by the more conservative sector and how young people were unwilling to return to the cages in which they were locked up. Few filmmakers portray emotions with the intensity of Baz Luhrmann. The pleasure, the fury, the success, the freedom, the disappointment, the danger. Everything lived 200% in an Australian film, which is still unleashed, to the delight of its fans and the misfortune of its detractors. In the opening bars of the film there is not a single shot that lasts more than a second. The camera is still not practically all over the tape. But that same style fits perfectly with the figure of Elvis, makes the film an absolute party as ‘Moulin Rouge’ was in its most hectic moments, and is particularly well suited to musical performances.
“Elvis” is not a musical like “Rocketman” could be. Presley’s greatest hits are a big part of the movie, but they’re always part of a performance, the action doesn’t stop. Baz Luhrmann has always been one of the best at sublimating music with the language of cinema, and on this occasion he delivers authentic electric shocks with the King’s most iconic songs. And she does it knowing how to give it a very contemporary touch, sometimes mixing them with more current sounds, such as rap, without ending up out of tune. The result is a music lover’s whirlwind that enhances Elvis’ sound and makes it fresh.
Ambassador or usurper?
Speaking of Elvis’ sound, one of the film’s most important themes has to do with the controversy that has always surrounded him over appropriating the rhythms, dances, and even aesthetics of the African American community. “Elvis” aims to show us that the artist, who grew up as a child in one of the few houses of white families in a predominantly black neighborhood, has always been very attracted to African American music and was one of them. We see him making friends with Little Richard (Alton Mason) or BB King (Kelvin Harrison Jr.), attending parties where he would end up playing with them. He respected them, and they respected him. They tell him that if he succeeds it is because he is white, but the film moves away from controversy to make Elvis an accepted ambassador for blacks and whites, and to address the political climate of the time in general. This approach is far from ending the debate and, at times, can even be too childish for a certain section of the public, although there are biographers of the artist who have described him as “a hero to the black community”. He at least puts a name and a surname at the roots of that sound.
Like all Baz Luhrmann films, ‘Elvis’ is a baroque film, extremely decorated, full of glitter, gold and diamonds. The set design and costumes are incredible and you’d think such a big movie with so many extras was shot at the worst times of the pandemic. But if something shines, and more than it shines, blind, it’s Austin Butler. “Elvis” wouldn’t work the way it does if it didn’t have a lead actor so deeply devoted to the role. It seems Presley himself would have possessed him when he listened to him talk or saw him move on stage. Rami Malek and Taron Egerton did an outstanding job as Freddie Mercury and Elton John. But the Austin Butler thing is absolutely mesmerizing. One of the interpretations of the year, without a doubt.
Baz Luhrmann returns with ‘Elvis’ at his best time, managing to elevate Presley’s figure even more thanks to his distinctive style. Although he ends up adding to its excessive length, which is what makes the film not round, the film is a real blast, a perfect new mix of music and cinema. A very powerful and overloaded concert. An almost religious experience that will amaze the director’s fans and horrify critics with his style. Because ‘Elvis’ is many things at the same time, but above all it is a film by Baz Luhrmann. And few get as much juice from music and cinema as he does.
The premieres of “Elvis”. in theaters on June 24th.
Note: 8
The best: Austin Butler, absolutely hypnotic. Baz Luhrmann and his signature style elevate every moment of Presley’s life and every song we hear.
Worse: His excessive duration suffers a lot towards the center and at the end, even if Luhrmann can finish in the lead.
Source: E Cartelera
