Movie Review: Priscilla

Originally published in 1986, Elvis and Me: The True Story of the Love Between Priscilla Presley and the King of Rock n’ Roll, proved popular enough to warrant being made into a four-hour television movie in 1988. Now, thirty-five years later, Sofia Coppola has written and directed a new adaptation – simply titled Priscilla – that not only breathes new life into Presley’s memoir, but also further solidifies Coppola as a director deserving of comparison to her more heralded father.

The film begins as a teenage Priscilla Beaulieu is introduced to Elvis Presley at a military-hosted party in Germany. From that moment, the couple enjoy a long courtship that culminates in a tempestuous marriage resulting in the birth of Lisa Marie Presley (Raine Monroe Boland/Emily Mitchell) and the couple’s ultimate separation.

Whereas the earlier version of Presley’s book plays more as a “tell all” soap opera, Priscilla wisely tells the story from the main character’s point of view, allowing the viewer to draw his or her own conclusions as to the motivations and machinations at play by and between other characters. There is no sense of “preaching” in Coppola’s film, there is only a strong affinity for telling the story, which is done in a stylistic, yet period respectful manner (possibly influenced by her father’s fictional forays into the world of organized crime).

Yet again, Coppola asserts her voice as a stylistic and innovative filmmaker with a unique flair for telling traditionally male-centric stories from a purely feminine perspective. With Priscilla she does so again as Jacob Elordi’s remarkably effective Elvis is forced to take a backseat to the transcendent portrayal of Priscilla delivered by Cailee Spaeny. Coppola’s interpretation of the memoir by Presley and Sandra Harmon also showcases the filmmaker’s ability to mix words, music, and pictures to create an artistic tapestry that elevates the source material to something more epic than it began as.

Cailee Spaeny in “Priscilla.”

Although it is probably far from the last film that will be based on the romance between Priscilla and Elvis, Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla may ultimately be the best and is certainly the latest great film from a talented and gifted filmmaker.

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Mike Tyrkus

Editor in Chief at CinemaNerdz.com

An independent filmmaker, co-writer and director of over a dozen short films, the Editor in Chief of CinemaNerdz.com has spent much of the last three decades as a writer and editor specializing in biographical and critical reference sources in literature and the cinema, beginning in February 1991 reviewing films for his college newspaper. He was a member of the Detroit Film Critics Society, as well as the group's webmaster and one-time President for over a decade until the group ceased to exist. His contributions to film criticism can be found in Magill's Cinema Annual, VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever (of which he was the editor for nearly a decade until it too ceased to exist), the International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, and the St. James Film Directors Encyclopedia (on which he collaborated with editor Andrew Sarris). He has also appeared on the television program Critic LEE Speaking alongside Lee Thomas of FOX2 and Adam Graham, of The Detroit News. He currently lives in the Detroit area with his wife and their dogs.

@miketyrkus

Mike Tyrkus

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