By Francois R.
– Published on June 22, 2022 at 10:11
Led by Baz Luhrmann, The King of Rock becomes a Superman in a satin leather suit. Certainly one of the major films of the year and one of the best musical biopics in a long time.
The public is impatient. They all came to see (and hear) the new musical sensation of the moment. Some Elvis Presley. A musician everyone has been talking about since his single has been playing on the radio waves. The young man, androgynously made up and decked out in a fushia pink suit, advances. He trembles with fear. Then, the frenzied music starts… And its feverish tremors turn into a diabolical swaying. American youth, dumbfounded, bewitched, discovered the rock’n’roll. And, without knowing it, his future King. Elvis, aptly named biopic, ticks the boxes of the musical autobiographical film specifications. We follow the story of an iconic personality, the events are told in voice-over by a third party, the round trips in time allow us to understand the psyche of the hero. But, curiously, the film avoids lapsing into dull adoration of its subject like a Bohemian Rapsody which told the story of Freddie Mercury. We are shown an anxious, fragile Elvis, in full doubt of himself, trembling like a dead leaf at the idea of going on stage. And to be judged for what he is: an alien in right-thinking post-war America. A young man whose singularity and sensitivity will mark his peers, his time and even…History.
Who better than Baz Luhrmannaka Mr. Red Mill !could stage the tragic-romantic life of the king of rock ? The photo novel of an icon, still adored today, who evolved in parallel with the mores of her time. A barnum of rhinestones and sequins sparkling with paparazzi flashes. A symbol of the rise and fall of an America cannibalizing its own stars. From the start, diving into the Las Vegas that will be Elvis’ mausoleum is dizzying. A spiral that promises us glory and fortune, sacrifices and regrets, life and death. It is a disproportionate biopic in the image of Elvis, of course, but also of its author. A filmmaker who, as usual, breaks the codes. Luhrmann chooses to show an incarnation of the singer rather than actually portraying him in a conventional manner. Thus, Elvis is often shown from behind, in semi-profile, from afar, surrounded by many people. Or else through the eyes of his most hysterical fans devoting him an unlimited adoration. Austin Butlerquasi-nobody so far despite a small prominent role in the last Quentin Tarantino in 2019, has the daunting task of embodying the King in all his glory. Chubby face, devastating smile, slicked back hair… All the paraphernalia is in place but the resemblance to Elvis is not necessarily striking. The actor is not one of those lookalikes that can be found today in the small wedding chapels that abound in Vegas. It is something else, much bigger. A superheroic incarnation of the King.
Rock ‘n’ Roll Superman, American Legend
In his early childhood, Elvis, the real one, was passionate about comics and dreamed of Super hero freeing his father from the prison where he was incarcerated. A hyperbolic fantasy, a childhood dream that translates young Elvis’s desire for grandeur and an acute sense of justice. The real Elvis dreamed of himself as Captain Marvel Jr., hero of the 1940s. Austin Butler is like Kal-El becoming Clark Kent and then Superman. In the King’s flashy costumes, he transforms into a Rock “super-man”. From a third-tier actor, Butler becomes the mega-star of a biopic spotlighting a mega-star. A bit as if the emerging actor and the deceased artist had a similar journey carried by a crazy ascent. In both cases, they are erected like Super hero. Baz Luhrmann, with his trademark bombastic direction, mutates a high-flying musical biopic into an alternative superhero film. A blockbuster where superpowers are replaced by music, bad guys changed into political censors and the great heroic responsibilities take the form of the trappings of the star system. In this sense, Elvis returns to the founding myth of a stainless icon. An American legend shaped as much by the artist as by his audience. A figure who has become essential who, in addition to telling the singular story of a stranger becoming a legend of music, reveals the convoluted relationship between America and its factory of dreams. With all the disappointment, fatalism and tragedy that entails.
- Elvis hits theaters this Wednesday, June 22, 2022.
Elvis: our review of the highly anticipated biopic with Austin Butler