‘PRISCILLA’: SOFIA COPPOLA’S LATEST FILM A SUBTLE, GRACEFUL LOOK AT MRS. ELVIS PRESLEY
Be ready for an unforgettable big-screen experience as CreaZion Studios Inc. brings ‘Priscilla’ to Philippine cinemas nationwide on 31 January
What I know of Sofia Coppola is that she is daughter of Hollywood film master and legend Francis Ford Coppola, the genius behind The Godfather trilogy, Apocalypse Now and Bram Stoker’s Dracula.
Her filmmaker daughter’s motion pictures — Lost in Translation, Marie Antoinette, The Virgin Suicides — I only read about in international entertainment magazines. They didn’t seem to get commercial runs in Philippine cinemas, despite the critical buzz these films received.
The latest Sofia Coppola film is
Priscilla, brought to us by CreaZion Studios Inc., where Coppola gets screenplay and directorial credits.
Based on the memoir Elvis and Me by Presley’s wife Priscilla Beaulieu Presley, the film is told from her point of view and heart. Cailee Spaeny portrays the title role, with leading man of the moment Jacob Elordi stepping into the shoes and persona of the King of Rock and Roll.
In a nutshell, the movie presents how Priscilla and Elvis met, the love that was for real between them despite the fights, indiscretions and the ultimate collapse of the Presleys’ marriage.
Under Coppola’s guidance and direction, Priscilla is devoid of the emotional shenanigans and dramatic outbursts that are part and parcel of the life of Elvis, especially if we are to believe all the salacious details and gossip masquerading as truth written about him.
One immediately experiences the director’s control and subtlety in the way the film never veers into melodrama territory.
In Priscilla’s view, Elvis was a performer who loved the adoration and klieg lights. His side B, however, was a scarred man who longed for normalcy, acceptance and love, which only Priscilla unconditionally gave.
The age difference was no bother. She carried the weight of being kept a secret from the public, but special to him. She did not mind waiting for the consummation of their love. She understood the mercurial shifts of character and emotions her husband was prone to. She followed his orders, dying her hair black and wearing the outfits he picked for her. She remained calm and poised despite Elvis’ publicized indiscretions.
It was a relationship that went from a fairy-tale start to a marriage filled with uncertainty, insecurity and rough patches. But every time Elvis asked for forgiveness, Priscilla forgave him.
They loved each other truly, deeply and madly. That is why she was able to accept and withstand the vices, the fame, the posse and the women. All of these were the culprits of his downfall and the crumbling of their marriage.
In rendering this story, Coppola threw away anything that could be emotionally excessive. What the film has are plenty of silent moments that spoke volumes, longing looks that practically screamed, and suffering, loneliness and turmoil all camouflaged in the beauty and wonder that Graceland, and that particular era of excess and decadence, offered to the music monarch and his queen.
The film’s costume and set design, choice of music, its overall look of both glamor and innocence and psychedelic, larger than life, are on point.
Elordi portrays Elvis with an exquisite dose of cockiness, charisma, confidence and sex appeal. His Elvis is not a copycat of the original, but one with a lot of heart and vulnerability.
But this is Spaeny’s movie. Not only does the actress nail the physical requirements of the role, one can see the growth and journey of her Priscilla, from a giddy teenager to how Elvis made her the ideal woman and wife for him. Her depiction of Priscilla is deeply felt and sincere.
What is most commendable about Priscilla is Coppola’s narrative and direction. It never borders on making us choose between the sinner and saint, the damned and the flawed.
There is respect and restraint in the presentation of Elvis, the man and his myth. And how Priscilla remembers what was it like to be Mrs. Presley is fleshed out with subtlety, grace and understanding.
Since it does not take sides, Coppola’s film allows viewers to digest and discern if they agree with its insights or not.
Priscilla is a cautionary tale that tells us that romance is not all ecstasy and happily ever after. The package also comes with agony, misery, suffering and pain that one must be ready to deal with.
Be ready for an unforgettable bigscreen experience as CreaZion Studios Inc. brings Priscilla to Philippine cinemas nationwide on 31 January.