melodrama
Tom Hanks as the mean manager of the King of Rock’n’Roll
Austin Butler (l) as Elvis and Olivia DeJonge as Priscilla. Photo: -/Warner Bros./dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
Tom Hanks as the villain and an exhausting young Elvis actor named Austin Butler: A new film tells the life of a pop icon in feverish images.
Dizzying images, a fabulous soundtrack and lots of melodrama: the new biopic “Elvis” gives insights into the life of the King of Rock’n’Roll.
The director is Baz Luhrmann (“Moulin Rouge”), who uses his proven means of bombastic staging, and of course that fits the intense life of one of the most successful music stars of all time. «Elvis» is a wild ride with quick scene changes, bright colors, sometimes split screens. This looks like a Las Vegas show, which you have to accept in order to be rewarded with a breathless spectacle.
The story of Elvis Presley (1935-1977) is told from the point of view of his nasty manager, for whom Luhrmann was able to win Tom Hanks. The musician himself is played by 30-year-old actor Austin Butler. Both play their roles very convincingly.
Not always, but for a long time manager Tom Parker and Elvis Presley had a difficult relationship. Parker, who worked for the superstar for more than 20 years, enriched himself excessively on the profits and motivated Elvis to an exhausting number of performances. He describes Elvis in the film as a “fairground attraction” and prevents the singer from giving concerts abroad – because Parker himself was not allowed to leave the USA because of a false identity he had assumed. But he also sees the musician’s potential early on – and, one could interpret it like this, gets the artistic best out of him.
From Mississippi to the world
In more than two and a half hours, the life of the musician is remembered. The film tells of Elvis’ childhood in a small town in the US state of Mississippi. His parents belonged to a free church community. It was there that Presley heard gospels and spirituals as a child, which influenced his own musical style. His love for gospels and the rhythm & blues of black artists is repeatedly discussed – and the special role that Elvis played by making the music of black musicians popular in the white majority society.
It’s about a lot of music
At that time, there was a clear separation between white and black people in the southern United States – which is why Elvis met with a lot of hostility from conservative sides. Luhrmann stylizes Elvis as a political force, but avoids mentioning that Elvis later met with Republican President Richard Nixon.
But above all, «Elvis» is of course about the music. Many live performances can be seen, which should make the cinema viewers rock in their seats to hits like “Heartbreak Hotel” or “Hound Doug”. The songs are uniquely catchy to this day, and Elvis actor Butler goes to great lengths to imitate Elvis’ legendary hip movement and distinctive, emotionally charged singing.
In the 1950s, Elvis hit the nerve of the time with his mixture of country, blues and gospel and his then completely peculiar, sexually charged cymbal dances. We see hysterical crowds, screaming women – and a manager with glowing eyes. Tom Hanks, wearing a fat suit, brings Parker to life as a greedy and sensationalist man.
The pop icon rebels
Elvis celebrates success, also begins to work as an actor. In 1958, however, the musician enlisted in the army and was posted to Germany, where he met his future wife Priscilla, who was only 14 at the time. Presley’s mother died around this time, and in the film it seems a bit as if he never got over this loss . Back in the USA, Elvis changes his musical style – it’s getting a lot cornier now.
Meanwhile, manager Parker still wants to squeeze the last capital out of Elvis, which of course doesn’t do him any good for long. At a planned Christmas show that Elvis is supposed to do in a Santa outfit, he rebels in a black leather dress and enthusiastically presents his old songs.
But over the years, the musician has increasingly withdrawn. After separating from his wife Priscilla, his health deteriorates, he becomes dependent on pills and gains weight. It is well known that his story does not end well.
But his legacy lives on. According to many estimates, the world premiere of the film received the longest round of applause at the Cannes Film Festival in May. Elvis’ family – his former wife Priscilla, daughter Lisa Marie and granddaughter Riley Keough – also expressed their enthusiasm for the film, which hits German cinemas on June 23.
– Elvis, USA 2022, 159 minutes, FSK 6, by Baz Luhrmann, with Austin Butler, Tom Hanks, Olivia DeJonge