Alanya Smith
Forty-five years since his death, Elvis Presley’s persona as ‘The King of Rock and Roll’ has been reignited through the glamourous lens of director Baz Luhrmann. Fusing a soulful isolation of musical talent with Austin Butler’s career-defining performance of the ‘King’, Elvis has the undisputable ability to be recognised as one of the best contemporary biopic features that have ever been released.
Collating 14 Grammy nominations, starring in 33 films and being the only artist to ever sell over one billion records, many are unsurprised that Elvis has been further immortalised in film. But why are many leaving theatres feeling unsatisfied by the epic, when it had so much material to work with?
Key Features
“Elvis gives context to the globally recognised singles that have been memorised across generations for the last seven decades.”
Born in 1935, the film explores the singer’s evolution from a timid Tennessee church boy to a dominating rock and roll powerhouse. Following the challenges he faced through exploitation, substance abuse and manipulation, Elvis gives context to the globally recognised singles that have been memorised across generations for the last seven decades.
Tom Hanks features as Colonel Tom Parker, the abusive manager of Elvis throughout his personal life and career, as the narrator of the film which takes viewers on a journey through the toxic music industry of the 1950s. Olivia DeJonge’s memorable performance as Priscilla Presley provides an insight into the Presley marriage and the role stardom played in supporting their family.
Commodifying the Products of Black Artists
For any soul and gospel fan, witnessing the evocative and full-body identity of Little Richard come alive in the film can feel surprisingly emotional and long-awaited. His excitement on screen as an energetic presence gave a brief ode to his transformative and performative behaviour in captivating audiences. Little Richard, alongside B.B. King, is one of the singers who is spotlighted in the film for their significance in catapulting Elvis Presley into stardom.
” Providing an overdue platform to give these singers the respect they deserve…”
A prevalent criticism of Presley’s catalogue is his commodifying of the products of Black African American performers, who didn’t have the same privileges as Presley to succeed due to the normalisation of racism in the music industry. Providing an overdue platform to give these singers the respect they deserve is essential to both representing Presley’s evolution as a performer and immersing audiences in the seductive and soulful history of rock music.
The Elvis soundtrack has gained attraction for its motivating and uplifting compilation, including the song of the Summer Vegas by Doja Cat. Sampling Hound Dog by Big Mama Thornton, the original artist whom Presley covered, refocuses the iconic track by celebrating Thornton and allowing her to become the household name she already deserves to be.
Voice Comparisons
Although a victim himself, there are multifaceted criticisms which dutifully deserve recognition throughout Elvis, and the film’s ability to navigate these is the greatest challenge it had to face. As such, Elvis’ marriage to Pricilla Presley at the age of fourteen is an objective injustice against her rights as a child. On the biopic’s accuracy, Ms Presley stated; “This is a movie that [Elvis] would have really loved [for] showing who he was, what he was striving for, [and] what his dreams were.”
“it is important to recognise that comparing his voice to when he was a teenager isn’t necessarily a fair judgement”
You may have even seen the meme of Austin Butler via TikTok and his shift in vocal tone following his studying of mimicking Elvis’s deep southern twang. Though funny at times, it’s important to recognise that comparing his voice to when he was a teenager isn’t necessarily a fair judgment.
Additionally, when method acting has been used as an excuse for actors to mistreat others in the past (yes, this critique is looking at you Jared Leto), surely the change in an actor’s voice isn’t the worst thing possible following his immersive rehearsing for the role?
Legacy
Raking in $234 million at the box office, Elvis has injected the singer’s talents into an elevated permanence in contemporary film and music discourse. Whilst his legacy was unwavering before the film’s debut, reintroducing his world-changing discography through the soundtrack is a creative homage to genre-defining icons of the past with the vibrance of present artists, culminating in producing art.
Luhrmann’s eclectic talent in directing the film has revitalised the present standards for film, musicals, and biopics, and will surely be rewarded as such at the next awards season. This is hardly surprising, coming from the creator of classics like Romeo and Juliet, Moulin Rouge! and Great Gatsby.
The standalone performance which has kept crowds buzzing, however, is the ground-breaking rendition of If I Can Dream. Culminating the attitudes and anxieties heightened during the civil rights movement and drawing on the features learnt by Elvis from soul and gospel artists throughout his life, the track continues to leave chills among fans and reinforces how Elvis’ success is indebted to black African American singers of his time.
Featured image courtesy of Eva Rinaldi via Flickr. Image license found here. No changes have been made to this image.
alanya
Alanya is a Journalism student at Cardiff University and Spotlight section editor at Quench Magazine.