SummaryWhen teenage Priscilla Beaulieu meets Elvis Presley at a party, the man who is already a meteoric rock-and-roll superstar becomes someone entirely unexpected in private moments: a thrilling crush, an ally in loneliness, a gentle best friend. Through Priscilla’s eyes, Sofia Coppola tells the unseen side of a great American myth in Elvis a...
SummaryWhen teenage Priscilla Beaulieu meets Elvis Presley at a party, the man who is already a meteoric rock-and-roll superstar becomes someone entirely unexpected in private moments: a thrilling crush, an ally in loneliness, a gentle best friend. Through Priscilla’s eyes, Sofia Coppola tells the unseen side of a great American myth in Elvis a...
The result is a meditative and thoughtfully feminine Sofia Coppola movie through and through—a sad, bored and confused young woman of certain privileges trying to make sense of her circumstances and, maybe, even coming of age.
An amazingly spellbinding perfection!! Sofia Coppola crafts one of the most distinctively sublime biopic, with the solid faithfulness in perspective like a true master of cinema. Undoubtly, if "Lost in Translation" is Sofia Coppola's #1 best film of her directing career..., "Priscilla" will certianly place right behind it as her #2 best!!
My favorite film of the year so far. Sofia Coppola perfectly contrasts the Elvis film from last year, showing how Priscilla had everything and yet nothing at all. Gorgeous movie from beginning to end
Spaeny, with the aid of Coppola’s finely honed script and the first-tier makeup and wardrobe teams, does a marvelous job of capturing Priscilla’s transition from a ninth-grader who finds herself starring in her own fairy tale to a 28-year-old mother who knew her marriage was over long before it was finally over.
“Elvis” is zippy and energetic while Priscilla is methodical, bordering on sedate. However, the biggest sin with Priscilla is Coppola never really digs into her wants and desires apart from Elvis.
An example that not all fairy tales have a happy ending. In this, he places Priscilla Presley as a princess who lived in a golden cage. What makes the story interesting is that it focuses solely on the environment and without making the iconic Elvis look like the villain in the story. And that is very appreciated. Let's see.
When a film seeks to depict the life story of a beloved public figure, it generally works best when it paints a comprehensive portrait of said individual. However, in this biography of the wife of rock ʼn roll icon Elvis Presley, viewers get a picture that seemingly tells only half of the story. Writer-director Sofia Coppola’s latest focuses on the years Priscilla Presley (Cailee Spaeny) spent with Elvis (Jacob Elordi). They embark on a sincerely loving relationship that, sadly, falls prey to problems with drugs, firearms, infidelity, prolonged separations and control freak tendencies, conditions – largely initiated by Elvis – that eventually lead to their separation (and at times cause the film to be more about him than her). Regrettably, the choice of this narrative leaves out the many significant personal and professional accomplishments of Priscilla’s life on her own, an inspiring story that’s completely (and perplexingly) overlooked. As a consequence, viewers are primarily shown a profile of a predominantly subservient character who rarely rebels until she finally somehow musters up the courage to leave (where did that trait come from?), with nothing about the successes that followed. In addition, there are many story threads that feel unresolved or underdeveloped, leaving audiences hanging about what comes from them. To its credit, “Priscilla” is, in several respects, some of the best (though surprisingly most conventional) work that Coppola has produced as a filmmaker, as evidenced in the cinematography and editing and in Elordi’s balanced portrayal of Elvis. But, like other of Coppola’s efforts, this offering could still use some tidying up in the writing, character development and overall story structure. The wife of a King truly warrants better treatment.
It's beautifully shot, with excellent set design, wardrobe, hair & make-up. All very accurate and period specific. Where Priscilla falls down is the direction and atmosphere, which is Sophia Coppola's department. Watching the film is a lot like watching an interview with Ms Coppola, in that, she looks expensively dressed and preened, talking confidently, yet always aloof, rarely saying anything of substance.
Priscilla's narrative fast-forwards in quick vignettes, in somewhat differential, spectral fashion, with an uncharismatic, moody Elvis lurking nearby, and meek Priscilla, whispering throughout the film, in between kissing sessions, which becomes nauseating after a while. The strongest element of the film, is during the first act, where the viewer sees the young Priscilla, a child at 14-years of age, rapidly developing an all-consuming infatuation after meeting Elvis, who is portrayed as a childish, selfish, philandering, drug-addict.
Although fleeting, the way Priscilla is treated at Graceland; as an object, rather than a person, is also well presented. Barked at by Elvis' useless father, or his father's lastest mistress, for being in the wrong room, or out in the garden, 'making a display of herself.'
Anthoer missed opportunity was not to include, even briefly, The Colonel. It would have been interesting to see S.Coppola's take on the Dutch fraudster.
When the Beatles visited Graceland, Paul McCartney & George Harrison vividly recounted how Priscilla was just brought out like a little doll to meet them, as a stoned Elvis sulked in front of a stereo system, playing his bass. You get the feeling Ms. Coppola didn't quite wrap her head around the research or get the dynamics of their relationship, and in-line with her auteurist style, this elegant film is more fashion show than engrossing melodrama. If you listen to the recollections of Elvis' goons, 'The Memphis Mafia', or his many women, they paint a much more vivid and visceral picture of life at Graceland and out on tour.