Elvis 4K 2022 Ultra HD 2160p

A biographical film about the life and work of the "king of rock 'n' roll," Elvis Presley. The project will tell the story of Elvis' years-long collaboration with his manager Colonel Tom Parker and his relationship with his wife Priscilla.

Elvis 4K Review
A decrepit old man with a catheter in his hand walks through an imaginary casino and mutters that he is about to tell the story of the genius he worshipped. Around him is a computer-drawn casino room and slot machines, with the jackpot marked with an Elvis Presley figure (Austin Butler) instead of the classic 777. The old man's name is Tom Parker (Tom Hanks) and he was the chief producer of the King of Rock and Roll and his exploiter.

Presley's biography is vast: you could pull from it a drama about cultural appropriation, the slave contracts of stars, or the loneliness of a great and weak man. In "Elvis," the director can't decide what story he wants to tell; the storylines interrupt each other, causing none to unfold.

The wrong directorial angle is chosen from the beginning, because the film opens with Hanks' character commenting on the life of Elvis Presley. It seems that the biopic will be about the slave contract and the abusive producer who "locked up" the singer in Las Vegas at the end of his career. The theme of capitalist "slavery" in show business is relevant because now the departure of a pop star to casino town is consonant with sentencing (situations with Katy Perry, Jennifer Lopez, Celine Dion and Britney Spears), and performers are often powerless against record companies and rarely go to conflict with them (the cases of Megan Thee Stallion and Taylor Swift). "Elvis" could have been a picture about the problems of the music industry, but Hanks' character is not the main character; the focus of the director is Elvis Presley himself.

Baz Luhrmann tries to portray the singer's tragic fate, but his eyes are scattered in his choice of angles. Elvis grew up in the southern mixed population cities of Tupelo and Memphis, was inspired by the songs of Sister Rosetta Tharpe, soul, blues, loved church music (gospel and spirituals), was friends with B.B. King and was acquainted with Little Richard. There is still debate as to whether Presley appropriated "black" music or not, but his connection to it is obvious, as he said in interviews. In the film, questions about borrowings and Elvis' relationship to "black" culture are not resolved: whether he was an ally (English term ally) or not, because he sometimes sang "black" hits, such as the Lloyd Price track Lawdy Miss Clawdy. Baz Luhrmann made a feature film, not a documentary, so he had freedom of artistic interpretation, but he chose to summarize. In Luhrmann, Elvis is aware of the racism of American society and at a concert in front of a "white" audience and officials specifically performs his hits in a "black" manner, but pays no attention to the beating of African Americans in the crowd of listeners. The singer might have had something to comment on this, but no.

Elvis Presley's personal history is also eventful: he was born into a very poor family and extolled an alcoholic working mother while his father was in prison. Only Baz Luhrmann can't work in the psychological drama genre and is unable to embroider the lines of human relationships with fine stitches because he's used to anchor stitches. Every time the narrative stops at Presley's personal drama, all the events look superfluous and contrived in comparison to Elvis' concerts and his arguments with his producer. As soon as the music fades and the camera stops on the actors' faces, Baz Luhrmann's mediocrity shines through in its entirety: the dialogue lacks logic, and lead actor Austin Butler can barely pronounce words, trying to imitate the superstar's southern accent. Early in his career, Elvis Presley said that family was most important to him - Luhrmann has it redundant.

Baz Luhrmann is a controversial writer, his style on the edge of camp ("Romeo + Juliet") and kitsch ("The Great Gatsby"). In "Elvis," he descends to vulgarity, losing his sense of taste. Taste is a consistency in aesthetics that can be seen even in Michael Bay's vulgar blockbusters ("Transformers" franchise) or Sofia Coppola's little dramas ("Somewhere").

His "Elvis" is a show on the screen, to which the drama, acting, art direction and signature techniques of the author are sacrificed. "The Great Gatsby" was praised for its organic use of songs by Lana Del Rey and Fergie; in "Elvis" he uses rap that pales in comparison to the original, classic Presley music. Baz Luhrmann is praised for his insane editing, but it's worse in the biopic than in "Bohemian Rhapsody" (2018, directed by Bryan Singer, Dexter Fletcher). This is evident in the complex nascent scene of the singer's talent, when a third is abruptly cut in to the two parallel mounted stories. First we see Elvis preparing for an important performance and his visit to an African-American church, and then the pace is thrown off because there is an abrupt passage with a recording of his first hit. From the difficult episode, Luhrmann could have concluded that Elvis has transferred the energy of worship into his music, but that conclusion isn't there, and neither is anyone else's. It's as if the director was afraid to interpret Elvis Presley's life in any way, so he couldn't say anything and made a eulogy about a man who lost control of his destiny. In the finale, Baz Luhrmann descends to extreme vulgarity, showing the fading star and claiming that the singer was killed by love. He could have been killed in the film by insecurity, loneliness, pills or the cruelty of his producer, but Luhrmann chose the cliché. The mediocrity of his work is underscored by the final shots of Elvis Presley's chronicled performances, where he is alive and handsome even at his worst, not a green-screen fake.