In terms of verisimilitude, Sophia Coppola’s dramatization of the relationship between Elvis Presley and Priscilla Presley (nee Beaulieu) is much more convincing than Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis biopic, which was an obvious fantasia. Based on Priscilla’s own 1985 memoir, the new film necessarily centers on her experience, so what we get of Elvis is limited in scope: very little recreation of his music or performances, absolutely no Colonel Parker, and no inkling of what his life was like before he met Priscilla. Coppola is thus free to fix her attention on the kinds of things she’s famous for, like American kitsch (acres of shag carpet), the foibles of youthful desire, and a rather dreamy take on sexual attraction. At first, I thought the total absence of Presley’s own music in the film was a function of rights acquistion—though Priscilla is one of the film’s producers, she hasn’t controlled the estate for decades—but Coppola isn’t interested in Elvis as an icon or an artist, so she fills the soundtrack with anachronistic but familiar pop songs that have scant connection to the action they accompany. In the context of the movie, Elvis is simply a privileged male who lacks the maturity to understand his appetites, and thus is doomed to failure as a husband and, in the long run, a functioning organism.

For all that, the movie lacks any real drama. The opening sequence, which takes place in Germany during Elvis’s army stint, is the most effective. Fourteen-year-old Priscilla (Cailee Spaeny) is wasting away on the base where her officer step-father has been assigned. She hates being out of the U.S., and, as it happens, so does Elvis (Jacob Elordi), who makes up for it on the weekends by throwing elaborate parties for fellow G.I.s and other American expats. A soldier spies Priscilla sitting at a base soda fountain and invites her to one of these get-togethers. Of course, her parents object and a great deal of diplomatic discourse is expended to gain their permission, but once Elvis locks eyes on her he’s hooked, and for the rest of his stint won’t take no for an answer, despite the Beaulieus’ understandable reservations. When his obligation to the army is up and he returns to Memphis and his show biz career, Priscilla is heartbroken, and both Spaeny and Coppola elegantly capture the sense of utter despair that accompanies a foreshortened adolescent love affair. Eventually, Elvis moves Priscilla, still a minor, to Graceland, with her parents’ permission, where she finishes school (just barely) under the gaze of his stern father and big-hearted grandmother, and while during this time it’s clear that there’s no sex (much to Priscilla’s frustration—though Elvis obviously has other women for “that kind of thing”), Elvis’s gallant but domineering behavior toward his teenage bride-to-be is undeniably creepy. Even the storied Memphis Mafia, those good ol’ boys who were constantly at Elvis’s beck-and-call, realize this relationship is kind of sick, but no one has the courage or wherewithal to call it as they see it.

After Priscilla and Elvis marry in 1967, all bets are off, and once she’s given birth to Lisa Marie, she realizes she must resolutely contend with Elvis’s weaknesses, especially when it comes to pills and cheap, quick thrills that he believes have no consequences. Coppola’s characteristic directorial m.o. of mostly standing back from the interpersonal dynamic in her films and concentrating on the atmosphere and trimmings works while the dynamic is in development, but after Priscilla finally gains a measure of adult self-awareness, the movie sprints to its tragic finish with little regard for the emotional stakes. When Priscilla files for divorce, the feeling I got was: What took you so long?, even though they’d been married less than six years. Verisimilitude has its limits, too. 

Opens April 12 in Tokyo at Toho Cinemas Chanter Hibiya (050-6868-5001), Kino Cinema Shinjuku (03-5315-0978), 109 Cinemas Premium Shinjuku (0570-060-109), White Cine Quinto Shibuya (03-6712-7225), Toho Cinemas Nihonbashi (050-6868-5060), Toho Cinemas Roppongi Hills (050-6868-5024), Yebisu Garden Cinema (0570-783-715).

Priscilla home page in Japanese

photo (c) The Apartment S.r.L. 2023