Mubi Monday: Priscilla (2023)

Based on the book, "Elvis And Me", written by Priscilla Presley and Sandra Harmon, Priscilla is another film from Sofia Coppola, who both adapted the book into screenplay form and took on her usual director role, exploring the strange dichotomy of a celebrity life coveted by so many onlookers who don’t realise the pain and loneliness barely hiding behind a public facade. Unfortunately, as much as I usually enjoy the work of Coppola, it’s hard to view her ruminations on celebrity without realising that she is content to repeat herself without adding anything truly worthwhile to any conversation.

What we have here is, as if you didn’t already know, a summary of the relationship that developed between Elvis Presley (Jacob Elordi) and a young girl named Priscilla (Cailee Spaeny). Priscilla was only fourteen years old when they first met, and you could argue that she was groomed and manipulated for years until the scales finally fell from her eyes when she was old enough to have the confidence to move away from her groomer. You could say that, but there’s not much of that here, although perhaps Coppola assumed it would be read as inherent to the main story.

I think you can already guess where I landed on this. I was hoping for something that would show the darker, often unmentioned, side of a 20th-century icon, as well as celebrating the work of a woman who worked hard to ensure that his legacy became what it is today. Priscilla, sadly, doesn’t do that. If there is wariness about the central relationship, it is alluded to only briefly, and the film ends before the point at which Priscilla fully stepped out of the shadow of her world-famous partner. It’s a snapshot though, and reflecting how people reacted at the time. That could be the argument, but I don’t see the point of a film looking at this relationship if it is simply recreating moments from it without relevant commentary.

The fault may not lie entirely with Coppola, although we know that she seems to enjoy having characters act on their impulses and desires without judgement. But it seems that Priscilla Presley, such a brilliant woman to have gone through everything she went through and come through to the other side with grace and a great business plan, may still view her own past with a misplaced sense of loyalty and glasses that are partially rose-tinted.

Despite my problems with the material, the cast are pretty great. Elordi takes on the unenviable task of portraying Elvis with a low-key approach that allows him to use his charm and mannerisms to give viewers an idea of the man behind the myth. This is especially interesting after watching the brilliant portrayal of the same character by Austin Butler, and Elordi acquits himself well. The film belongs to Spaeny though, rightfully so, and she does a great job of showing Priscilla moving from young girl to married young woman, and eventually a woman who knows she cannot stay any longer in a lifestyle that has long been a gilded cage. There are other people delivering solid performances, but the focus is on Priscilla, even as she spends so much of her time in the shadow of her husband.

I have already seen a lot of love for this elsewhere. The visuals are pretty great, the soundtrack choices work well (as does the score, although it should be noted that the soundtrack has no actual Elvis standards in the mix), and the story of Priscilla is one that deserves to be told. I just can’t help thinking that it deserves to be told with a more critical eye.

4/10

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