As soon as the film begins the viewer is introduced to the dizzying and seemingly glamorous world of Las Vegas with its drinking, gambling, and rock and roll. Baz Luhrmann’s montage of this tantalising dreamland is enough to entice anyone, and entice it does.
Our narrator is none other than Colonel Tom Parker (played by Tom Hanks), Elvis Presley’s (played by Austin Butler) long term manager. If you know much about Elvis then you may be sceptical of this decision.
Colonel Tom Parker is often regarded as the villain of Presley’s life and choosing him to be the main storyteller in this film could have been a bid to clear his name. Luckily, Luhrmann deals with the depiction of Parker expertly and by having him as the narrator, it only enhances further the way that Parker was in the driving seat of Elvis Presley’s life.
The biopic takes the viewer through Presley’s life from cradle to grave. We learn how Elvis got his start in the music industry, and how a travelling circus took a chance on his garish clothes, indecent dance moves and fusion of blues and hillbilly music.
Austin Butler’s performance and imitation of famous Elvis dance moves such as ‘the pelvis’ and his ‘rubber legs’ was really incredible. The likeness between the two is uncanny. At some points in the film footage of the real Elvis Presley and of Austin Butler were both used in a montage and you could hardly tell the difference.
Everything Baz Luhrmann touches appears to have a certain kind of star quality to it. However, this film does not shy away from showing us the toll that stardom takes upon Elvis Presley. As someone who only knew Elvis as a distant legend, I found this telling of his career particularly devastating. I watched a man fight people who were offended by his performances – by him – and once he had finally climbed his way to the top, he needed to rely on drugs to keep him propped up there.
You can’t write a review of a film like Elvis and not comment on the music. Luhrmann revisited old classics like Blue Suede Shoes and Hound Dog. The soundtrack uses not only Presley’s songs but also modern artists like Kasey Musgraves and Eminem are used. But what was particularly fascinating to me was the use of Doja Cat’s Vegas which samples one of Presley’s most famous songs, Hound Dog.
A revamp of a classic is always risky. Before watching the film I had just assumed that the song was simply a promotion technique to draw crowds to the cinemas. However I think it worked really well in the film and is a great way for young people, whose lives the legend of Elvis Presley may not have touched, to acquaint themselves with Elvis.
Overall, Luhrmann’s telling of Elvis Presley’s life did not disappoint. I’m especially glad that the film didn’t only focus on the glitz and glamour of the birth of a star but also on the abhorrent downsides too.
4/5