It’s strong, exhausting, and aggravating, but sometimes it’s also pure brilliance and mastery. What a mess of contradictions.
In the 30 years since Baz Luhrmann entered the art scene with Strictly Ballroom, every Australian has an idea of the kind of experience he lives with a Luhrmann project.
He will be bold and irreverent as Romeo and Juliet or how extravagant and emotionally great Red millor he will be excessive and polite without apology The great Gatsby.
Whatever Luhrmann does, there is a thick glow of Baz-ian brilliance and over-indulgence, and your mileage for that will vary.
There are many possibilities that you have decided about Luhrmann a long time ago and there is nothing on Earth that keeps you away or that brings you closer. Elvisthe visionary filmmaker’s latest show.
Elvis it is the classic Luhrmann in many, many aspects. He is unbridled, exuberant, demanding, aggressive, generous, luxurious, exasperating, explosive and exhausting, and sometimes all at once.
Luhrmann always makes great decisions, and all of those options scream from the screen.
There are aspects of Elvis this is cinematic mastery and there are other parts that is bilge. It’s a mess of contradictions as well as being … just a mess.
It’s not narratively focused, the characterizations are very inconsistent, and some of the filmic choices are baffling. But while it can be overwhelming and relentless, there is a real genius contained within its overall noisy package.
From the moment the king of rock and roll was discovered until the end of his life, ElvisThe highlight is easily a revealing and vibrant performance by Austin Butler. The young American actor is simply phenomenal.
Presley is one of the most impersonated figures in the world, so the challenge has always been to bring something to the role that goes beyond mime. It’s not enough for Butler to be able to sing a melody with his deep, soulful voice, or to be able to dance and spin with an irrepressible verve that causes frenzy, and he does.
Butler, Luhrmann and co-writers Sam Bromell, Craig Pearce and Jeremy Doner have created a version of Presley that is considered, layered and, above all, human.
Butler captured the essence of a Presley that goes much deeper than the iconic state: this is a character that exists far from the stage and the cameras, far from the performative aspects of his life. He and his stage partner, Olivia DeJonge, as Priscilla Presley, are magnetic and their sexually charged chemistry explodes.
When on the screen, Butler owns every inch of the frame. It’s a fascinating twist, transcending the recent biopic performances of Rami Malek and Taron Egerton, and it’s hard to see how Elvis does not consolidate Butler as one of the most interesting talents of his generation.
Not in vain, Priscilla Presley has said that Butler’s interpretation of Presley is “exceptional.”
The same cannot be said of Colonel Tom Parker of Tom Hanks, the villain of the mustache-spinning piece and of a note. In a rare misstep by Hanks, it’s a caricature, not a character, and there’s nothing resembling nuances.
Colonel Tom Parker is one of the main reasons Elvis it can be so aggravating. The character is the one who frames the film and his voice-over narration marks each scene. It’s like a plague you want to eliminate so you can get back to Butler’s performance.
This is the inner conflict Elvis. There are always several parties competing for your attention. You want to see Butler but you have to put up with Hanks. You want to bathe in Catherine Martin’s excellent production design and costumes, but you have to fight Luhrmann’s dizzying direction to appreciate it.
Elvis is a film that demands work, eliminating all of Baz-ian’s distractions to get to the emotional and surprisingly grounded core of the circus man. But it drags you until all your energy is exhausted.
Of course, you don’t get that Butler performance or the intoxicating intensity of some of his most feverish scenes without Luhrmann’s singular instincts as a director. As with any Luhrmann manic and cacophonous production, you have to take on all the exasperating flaws with brilliance.
Evaluation: 2.5 / 5
Elvis is in the movies