REVIEW. EPiC: Can't Help Falling in Love With Baz Luhrmann's New Film.

Elvis Presley in 1973.

Elvis

White trash

Elvis

The Memphis flash

Elvis

Under the hood

Elvis

With Cadillac blood

Elvis

Darling bud

Flowered and returned to the Mississippi mud

Elvis

-From "American David" by Bono

I'll admit I've never been a huge Elvis Presley fan, nor a big fan of documentaries, for that matter. Elvis was just far enough ahead of my generation that, by the time I discovered who he was, he was on the downslide of his career. The only time my parents took me to the drive-in, we saw Clambake and, a few years later, I saw Change of Habit. Pretty safe, standard (re: trivial) Hollywood fare.

I still remember that hot August afternoon in 1977 when the day's breaking news was Elvis's death at age 42. By then, his weight, drug use, and erratic behavior had become common gossip fodder, and his death seemed like another unfortunate rock and roll tragedy.

Documentaries are another thing, and I know I'm not being completely fair in my assessment that overall, this movie genre always feels a bit dry and pedantic: at best like a faster paced, at worst, the ultimate, tedious college lecture. But then I (begrudgingly) saw Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson's moving They Shall Not Grow Old, a 2018 documentary about an ill-fated unit of Australian soldiers during World War I as they prepared for what would be their last battle and untimely deaths. Jackson used state-of-the-art technology and archival materials from the BBC and the Imperial War Museum to recreate the war from the soldiers's point of view. Jackson has said that his film may not be totally accurate, but no matter. It captures beautifully the soldiers's experiences told in their words integrated with actual footage from the war.

It was thus with considerable enthusiasm when I read that Baz Luhrmann, whose 2022 biopic, Elvis garnered eight Oscar nominations, had collaborated with Peter Jackson to create a new film about Elvis using recently found archival footage of Presley's concerts. Luhrmann originally wanted to integrate this concert footage from Elvis: That's the Way It Is and Elvis on Tour into his biopic when he found were sixty-eight boxes of both 35 and 8 mm footage socked away in a salt mine in Kansas (I can't make this stuff up). Unfortunately, none of the video came with sound, making its use in the 2022 movie impossible and the chances of restoring it doubtful. Enter Peter Jackson who eventually assisted Luhrmann in synching the sound to the video, and then - the biggest treasure - including 45 minutes of an audio recording in Elvis's own words which - like the soldiers in They Shall Not Grow Old - provides the narration for the film.

There have been countless movies made about Elvis in the almost half-century since his death: from Kurt Russell's very popular made-for-TV portrayal in 1979 to Jacob Elordi's more recent depiction of Elvis as charming, if controlling, in Sofia Coppola's 2023 film, Priscilla. Russell had co-starred with Presley in 1964's It Happened at the World's Fair, and seemed to have an intuitive sense of The King's charisma, if not his inner demons. Elordi, two generations removed from The King of Rock and Roll, offered something darker and more probing into Elvis's psyche. Even though his Elvis is not Priscilla's focus, Elvis's eerie and undeniable presence creates a kind of menacing shadow over the film's narrative, especially girlfriend-then-wife Priscilla's struggle to live comfortably in his carnivalesque world.

My own interest in Elvis has been mostly academic, deepened by my understanding of his cultural significance in American music and intrigued by the enduring legacy he seems to have created. I can honestly say that I have watched every movie (documentary and non) about Elvis, listened to most of his music and read countless books and articles about his personal and professional life. But I did not really feel Elvis until today when I watched Luhrmann's remarkable EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert.

The aptly titled EPiC does more than offer old concert footage or bits and snips of sound bites from The King. It literally resurrects Elvis in ways that are both dynamic and moving. Luhrmann has crafted a remarkable study of Elvis the artist, the entertainer who truly loved what he did and had an uncanny intuitiveness about who he was and how he wanted to record music. But he also reveals a more introspective Elvis, who speaks plainly and eloquently about his family, his life, his desire to perform live in concert. This is an Elvis with show biz savvy and a wicked sense of humor. Not a puppet of his manager Col. Tom Parker, Elvis is clearly a musician who knows music and can articulate what songs he prefers to sing.

His voice is astonishing. The songs - everything from "Hound Dog' to "Bridge Over Troubled Water" to "How Great Thou Art" - are presented with effortless ease and powerful delivery. The colors are vibrant and the sounds of Elvis's music will reverberate in your heart and soul long after the movie ends. In an era before the singer-songwriters only sang their songs, Elvis's repetoire of everything from spirituals to hymns to pop rock and folk music is extensive and impressive. That he could sing R&B as easily and convincingly as gospel or folk is rare, and here solidifies Elvis's universal appeal.

The historical notion of Elvis as the bridge between black and white culture (he is famously known as the white singer who sounded black) is reinforced as well. We watch him interact with black singers and musicians with the kind of seamless inclusion a diverse America should champion. His performance of Mac Davis's urban anthem, "In the Ghetto" is one of the movie's emotional highlights. As Luhrmann shows us, rock and roll has never had as much purpose or meaning as it does in Elvis's rehearsals and concerts.

There is a treasure trove of riches here, from quiet moments before a performance to the delirious fans screaming at his every move. Older fans will likely recognize a number of now-departed celebrities who attended one (or more) of his 837 sold-out shows during his residency at the Las Vegas International Hotel (1969 - 1977). Luhrmann provides a kind of template for future such documentaries, especially those about actors, artists and musicians who've left lots of audio-visual documentation of their lives and work. Imagine the impact of a movie about Freddie Mercury in his own words, rather than Rami Malek lip-syncing with a wretched oral prosthetic.

I found myself, not only mouthing the words to the many songs performed throughout this very concise (97 minutes) film, but genuinely moved at the beauty of Presley's voice, the authenticity of his words, the power of his presence. I may have been too young to attend an Elvis concert when he was in his prime, but I definitely felt the magnetism that was Elvis as I sat in a darkened theater.

I think my favorite movie incarnation is still Val Kilmer, whose spirit of Elvis provides protagonist Clarence Worley (Christian Slater) with spiritual guidance in the Tony Scott-directed/Quentin Tarentino-penned movie True Romance (1993). In the chaotic mess of drug deals gone bad and two young innocent lovers on the run, Elvis appears as a figment of Clarence's imagination, providing the movie's odd moral core. Elvis assures Clarence that his girlfriend Alabama (Patricia Arquette) loves him, that his actions are true, and that he should stick to his decisions. "I like you, Clarence. Always have. Always will," Elvis whispers before fading into a bathroom mirror.

I've always liked that vision of Elvis: a mentor figure that is kind of a projection of our collective obsession with pop culture. When faced with life's challenges or a personal dilemma, we should all be so confident to ask what The King would do. In Baz Luhrmann's world, one in which everything swirls around us like a kaleidoscope, Elvis's sense of self, of who he was and how he navigated the circus that enveloped him, may be words of wisdom for us all.

Elvis

The battle hymn

Elvis

Changed the center of gravity

Elvis

Made it slippery

Elvis

Ate America before America ate him.

*******

EPiC is currently playing in theaters. It is an astonishing film that demands to be seen on the big screen and Rated PG-13 for mild profanity and lots of hip swiveling.