Priscilla
A24Elvis Presley is one of the most famous men to ever live. He still holds records to this day in the realm of music, and his estate is clutching on to the positive outlook the world has on him. Priscilla is not that story. This is the story of Priscilla Presley, a woman who dealt with far too much for far too long for the man she loved. Sofia Coppola has taken a big swing by portraying the darkest elements of Mr. Presley and the unabashed way she handles it is pretty darn impressive.
By allowing the camera to sit squarely within Priscilla's frame of mind, and to not allow any outside influence into that mindset, the audience is given something remarkable. Over the course of the film, the audience is given the opportunity to witness key moments of both their lives through the eyes of Priscilla, and much of this is due to the steady, slow hand Coppola infuses into the way the camera moves and paces their lives. The perspective of a woman in a toxic, borderline dangerous, relationship – one with a man as famous as Elvis, no less – is nothing to scoff at. This is genuinely impressive, and something not brought into the mainstream as often as it should be. Coppola is not given as much right to the portrayal of Elvis as may have been necessary for a more in-depth look, but what she is able to do is bring focus to a lesser-known aspect of the story.
From a technical standpoint, the usage of music from the era is quite good, and due to licensing issues with Elvis's music, Coppola is once again forced to get creative with music choices throughout the film. This really works in the favor of the overall story and erases any chance of the music overtaking any specific scenes, or moments, something that Baz Luhrman's Elvis struggled to detach itself from. Coppola allows the bands who did the majority of the score/music for the film – Phoenix and Sons of Raphael – freedom to mix and match music cues from the era. This works in order to fit the aesthetic, and by doing so Coppola has created a sense of understanding of who Priscilla was in just the music present during the big, and small, moments of her portrayed life.
Then, of course, there's the elephants in the room. The absolutely show-stopping performances of Cailee Spaeny and Jacob Elordi are a big reason for all of this coming together so well in the end. The way each of them leans into the darkness, and light, present throughout their relationship gives genuine weight to the magnitude of what Priscilla has put herself into. The glorious costume design by Stacey Battat most certainly helps bring pieces of this to life as well. Specifically, Priscilla's transition from a 16-year-old girl on a military base, into the wife of Elvis Presley, is a combined effort.
There's some absolutely gorgeous usage of mise-en-scéne present in every moment here, though, which needs to be discussed. Some very specific instances involve Priscilla’s time alone in Graceland while Elvis is away filming. Coppola is really able to capture her loneliness by just placing certain objects and people around Priscilla during this time in her life. The big empty home is extremely well utilised here.
Priscilla is definitely the harder watch of the two Elvis films presented to audiences this decade, but it is a necessary one to look for. Because, by allowing this film to be the tough watch that it is, Coppola has almost certainly made the stronger film of the two. While Elvis was an entertaining film on flair and production design, with darkness strewn about, written and directed by Baz Luhrmann, it does not reach the dramatic heights of Coppola's Priscilla. Audiences should absolutely check this one out when they can, but should just know they're not in for the most fun of times.