“She’s [Coppola] a very empathetic writer-director. Both actors handle their roles very well, and Spaeny’s stillness is a standout. “
Con Nats
3.5 Heartbreak Hotels
Priscilla is a name that’s synonymous with Elvis, but being his faithful wife is about all we know of her. So it is a surprise that a director who is as insightful as Sophia Coppola took on writing and directing this film, with Priscilla herself as one of the executive producers. The script is based on Priscilla’s autobiography.
Her choice is definitely under question in the first act, where their awkward courtship starts. Elvis (Jacob Elordi) is already known the world over and it’s during his army time posted in Germany that they meet. Priscilla (Cailee Spaeny) is an awkward 15 year old without much to say. It’s hard to understand his attraction.
As this plain Texan duckling starts to grow and flourish, the story does as well. Copolla is taking us into the world of Elvis through the coming of age of Priscilla.
She doesn’t shy away from the warts and their excesses. On one of their first dates Elvis gives her a sleeping pill that knocks her out for two days. His affairs are in magazines she reads, even when pregnant, and his behaviour becomes more erratic, which seems to be related to his drug intake. If you ever wondered how she tolerated it all, her quiet dignity comes through.
Copolla likes to leave a lot of silence between the lines for her actors to fill. The problem with the first act is that there isn’t much happening at all and Priscilla doesn’t seem to have much going on inside her. After all, she’s just a sweet 15 year old girl from Texas who was too smitten by Elvis to exceed at school or develop a forceful character. She was living in the shadow of a world-wide icon and hidden from sight by Tom Parker.
In the second act, she grows stronger but also accepts the compromises she’s forced to take. This is where her character becomes more interesting, as her internal conflict grows. By the end, her character starts to come through, and all this is achieved without lashings of dialogue, but with subtle acting and some lovely camera and direction. Each shot is carefully crafted and the lighting has lots of sepia tones to suit the stillness.
It is interesting to contrast this film to Baz Luhrman’s Elvis. Bazz gave us lots of colour and movement, with his montages and flashy performances, but I never felt I got to know Elvis beyond the stage and one rehearsal scene. Sofia goes to the other extreme and rejects the flash for character insight. She gets under the skin of her characters; Baz doesn’t get scratch their make-up and the pace is also about four gears slower.
While this film is about Priscilla, Elvis is front and centre, and after a while you understand his fascination with her. She was like a fragile precious porcelain doll he liked to worship when home at Gracelands; nothing like the women he routinely slept with while on the road. Copolla is careful not to demonise either of them. She’s a very empathetic writer-director. Both actors handle their roles very well, and Spaeny’s stillness is a standout. Elordi manages to capture the contradiction that is being Elvis.
The film coolly ends as Priscilla leaves Gracelands, so we’re left with seeing her life through the prism of Elvis, just like the world did. But we certainly know a lot more about both of them than we ever did.
Con Nats, On The Screen
