Presented in competition at the 80th Venice International Film Festival, โPriscillaโ is the latest feature directed by Sofia Coppola, former Golden Lion winner with her 2010 drama โSomewhere.โย Coppola herself has written the filmโs script, an adaptation of the 1985 memoir โElvis and Meโ by Priscilla Beaulieu Presley in collaboration with Sandra Harmon. Consistent with Coppola’s preceding filmography, her focus remains firmly around a woman overshadowed by her partner. Although Priscilla Beaulieu Presley’s experience is out of the ordinary, her subservience to her beloved is something that is and has been normalized for so long.
The love story between Elvis Presley and Priscilla Beaulieu, which is totally observed from Priscilla’s point of view, is portrayed with objective passivity as if to mirror the protagonist’s passivity in her own story. Priscilla and Elvis met in West Germany in 1959, where Elvis, then 24, was serving in the U.S. Army. Priscilla, then the 14-year-old daughter of an officer, was a big fan of the hottest rock star of the day. Priscilla almost became Elvis’s special confidante as early as their first meeting at a friend’s house party.
Elvis’ approach to her holds an ambiguity that ranges from the predatory to the more innocent desire to share with someone his homesickness and, primarily, his longing for his recently departed mother. Although it should be stressed that one cannot judge through a feature film how the real Presley couple truly behaved, the film offers a fascinating portrayal of both its members.
Priscilla, played by Cailee Spaeny, is little more than a child when she is presented with the chance to fulfill what, for so many young girls, is only a fantasy: the arrival of a prince charming who loves her so much as to intend to make her the princess of his kingdom. The very first moment Elvis speaks to her, Priscilla establishes an immovable love for him and is willing to do anything to remain by his side. All the people surrounding the couple, and she herself, explicitly manifest how anomalous it is that Elvis is interested in her when he could get virtually any girl he wants.
The singer’s attention to Priscilla is treated as akin to grace. It follows how Priscilla, having earned a kind of “undeserved privilege,” cannot and should not allow herself to demand anything but only to yield to the person who granted it to her. Spaeny proves very capable of incorporating the young protagonist’s uncertainties, vulnerability, and happiness and transposing her slow deterioration. She was awarded the Volpi Cup for Best Female Performance for her role at the Venice Film Festival.
Although Jacob Elordi’s Elvis remains a secondary character, it easily contrasts the glittering Elvis of Austin Butler, directed by Baz Luhrmann. If Luhrmann focused on the rock star and icon, Coppola tries to get a glimpse of his human side, especially his position as a companion, husband, and father. Elordi manages to convey the charming side of the King of Rock nโ Roll. He is also adept at showcasing the Kingโs more questionable and unbalanced aspects. From what transpires in the film as much as from his ex-wife’s interviews, Elvis had acknowledged in young Priscilla a perfect doll to be molded at will.
& Jacob Elordi.
Assigned with a hybrid role between the mother Elvis so loved and the life partner, Coppola’s Priscilla is more than a person; she is an additional employee to be attributed a role and assignments. Priscilla is free to exist only in relation to Elvis and is left in an almost standby state when she is not needed. She must answer when summoned, take leave when not desired, and respond if being asked but not ask questions, especially if they are undesirable.
In addition to being “adjusted” in terms of makeup, hairstyling, outfits, and posture, Priscilla also listens to the music Elvis listens to, reads the books Elvis reads, goes to the places he would go, and repeats the words he would say. Particularly frustrating is the sexual sphere, punctuated by Elvis’s betrayals but with the demand that she remain pure until marriage (despite the girl’s wishes). Priscilla’s few and brief strong stances are quickly quelled by reminding her how easily she is replaceable. Nevertheless, as the real Priscilla Beaulieu recounts, never (not even after the end of their marriage) did Priscilla downplay her unconditional love for her husband.
Although little of it transpires, the two also seem to have experienced genuinely happy and tender moments, but the overall portrayal remains that of an unhealthy and destructive relationship. Sofia Coppola’s direction effectively transposes the sense of isolation and imprisonment of which Priscilla is a victim while maintaining the hyper-feminine aesthetic sophistication that is her rendered trademark. The writing imbues the entire film with a subtle irony, structuring the story in a series of more or less short self-contained scenes, similar to the comic strips in a graphic novel.
On the technical side, the excellent work of set design (Tamara Deverell) and photography (Philippe Le Sourd) perfectly depict Priscilla’s “cage,” namely Graceland, Elvis’ mansion-castle that can still be visited. The mansion, abounding in cream and light gold colors, is illuminated with vitality when Elvis is present but immediately turns antiseptic with his departure. Stacey Battat’s beautiful costumes are also worn soberly and naturally. The soundtrack, curiously enough, does not include a single Elvis song. Indeed, the project did not receive permission from their rights holders to feature any of them. The band Phoenix handled the musical oversight skillfully, making this absence almost imperceptible.
Ultimately, Priscilla is a well-constructed biopic, and the attention to detail in each of its elements is evident. Probably due to the exigencies of the length, the meticulousness with which the beginning of the story is reconstructed is not present in its mature phase, which appears much more sketchy and terse. Nevertheless, the pace stays consistent throughout the picture, balancing a quiet delicacy and a halo of resigned stillness. Eventually, Priscilla is a deeply sad film. It empathetically tells the story of a woman who allowed herself to be held captive in a gilded cage.
Produced by The Apartment, American Zoetrope, and Standalone Pictures, the international theatrical release of Priscilla is scheduled to begin November 3, 2023, with distribution by A24.
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