Baz Luhrmann's Elvis biopic

[dr beat]

A mixed bag.  I was apprehensive when I saw it was 2.5+ hours but to be fair it held my attention and I only felt it drag a little toward the end.  I found it a bit uneven in terms of style.  The first half was very much typical Luhrmann with the use of hip-hop to soundtrack Elvis' earlier career, but the second half seemed like a different film.  It also seemed like it wasn't sure whether to tell the story from the Colonel's or Elvis' POV.  Indeed it was like there were two films trying to get out.

But still, perfectly fine for some Sunday night entertainment and the musical set-pieces were great.

[Memorex MP3]

Are strictly ballroom and moulin rouge worth a try? Which one is more likely to be enjoyable?

[samadriel]

Strictly Ballroom is pretty great, relatively low-key and charming, probably the least flashy Luhrmann movie. Moulin Rouge has seen its reception decline in temperature as the years go by, but I think it's alright. Probably the worst of his Red Curtain movies though, so I'd say go with SB.

[the science eel]

Loved Hanks.

The recreation of Little Richard doing 'Tutti Frutti' in a club was fabulous.

The rest was a mess. Luhrmann makes films for people with short attention spans. There's nothing to praise in his approach - especially not to subject matter like this.

[beanheadmcginty]

The scenes changed so frequently in this it was like watching a trailer for 2.5 hours. Still quite enjoyed it though.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Doubt I'd have bothered with this if it wasn't a Mubi Go freebie but I really enjoyed it.

[SteveDave]

Saw this last night and, after I got goosebumps from the big finish of "American Trilogy" right at the start, I got very little else from it. It did make me want to watch the "Comeback Special" again though without skipping all the dance bits this time.

 

[famethrowa]

Wayyy too much Tom Hanks doing Goldfinger, way too much stuff that Dewey Cox has already covered, and there's only one person who ever existed who can pull off that jumpsuit karate stuff without looking like a wretched, cheesy fool.

[phantom_power]

Too long, too choppy. Not enough actual Elvis songs rather than hyperactive remixes or covers. And you never really get a sense of what he was like behind the scenes. Backstage Elvis acted pretty much the same as public eye Elvis and I don't really believe that was the case. That's part of the problem with making a film about someone so iconic I suppose but all the gimmickry and flash didn't help either.

[Famous Mortimer]

there's only one person who ever existed who can pull off that jumpsuit karate stuff without looking like a wretched, cheesy fool.

[confettiinmyhair]

It was a watchable film, but like others said very unfocused and choppy. I'm curious about influence on Elvis from black culture because it very much came across in the film that when Elvis ran out of ideas, he nicked them from arguably more talented black artists. If this was historically accurate, did any prominent black artists call him out at the time, or did they see him as elevating black artists?

The other question is, was Elvis political? I never got the impression that he was compared to several other American artists in the 60s and 70s.

[kalowski]

He was political when he was properly hepped up on goofballs and went to Nixon to warn him about The Beatles.

ETA link: https://time.com/4894301/elvis-president-nixon-photo/

[Dr Rock]

He just did all that to get a special badge. He collected badges.

Although he refused to talk about politics, the hottest political issue of his time was civil rights and he was with the oppressed on that one.

[13 schoolyards]

It was a watchable film, but like others said very unfocused and choppy. I'm curious about influence on Elvis from black culture because it very much came across in the film that when Elvis ran out of ideas, he nicked them from arguably more talented black artists. If this was historically accurate, did any prominent black artists call him out at the time, or did they see him as elevating black artists?

From what I can gather (entirely from just reading a bit on the subject), Elvis was a big fan of black music, spent a fair bit of time showing respect to the artists who influenced him, and came from a culture (poor Southern white trash) that was generally seen by the rest of the country as not that far removed from those black artists anyway.

No doubt Elvis would be seen as racist by our standards, but by the standards of his time he was a lot more opened-minded than most, and it seems like most of the black musicians at the time accepted him as someone doing his own thing.

Plus the film skips over a lot of his white influences - Elvis was a big Dean Martin fan, for one - which made his music much more of a mix of styles. And as the film does point out, Elvis' sex appeal was a big part of his success as a live performer

[Dr Rock]

After he died, the first person to turn up to Gracelands was James Brown.

[Dr Rock]

If you are genuinely interested in a full account of his life, Peter Guralnick's two books are all you nee.d

[Dr Rock]

From what I can gather (entirely from just reading a bit on the subject), Elvis was a big fan of black music, spent a fair bit of time showing respect to the artists who influenced him, and came from a culture (poor Southern white trash) that was generally seen by the rest of the country as not that far removed from those black artists anyway.

No doubt Elvis would be seen as racist by our standards, but by the standards of his time he was a lot more opened-minded than most, and it seems like most of the black musicians at the time accepted him as someone doing his own thing.

Plus the film skips over a lot of his white influences - Elvis was a big Dean Martin fan, for one - which made his music much more of a mix of styles.

Opera too.

[Dr Rock]

No doubt Elvis would be seen as racist by our standards,

In what ways?

[13 schoolyards]

In what ways?

Just being a successful white artist heavily influenced by less successful black performers ticks that box for a lot of people these days.

But also he was a working class white guy born in America in 1935 - it'd be amazing if he didn't seem a bit racist today, even if he wasn't at all seen that way at the time

[popcorn]

I'm sure sometime last year I heard Mark Kermode, on the radio or in a podcast, do an in-depth discussion of all of Elvis's film roles, but I can't find it anywhere. Does this ring a bell for anyone?

[Dr Rock]

People who say he stole black music - have you heard the Sun Sessions? Doesn't sound very black to me.

[kalowski]

I don't believe Elvis stole anything (although I do believe Sam Phillips saw him as a kind of "white face" of black music) but I do think it interesting that the song you picked had been recorded 2 years earlier by a black artist.

[Dr Rock]

I don't believe Elvis stole anything (although I do believe Sam Phillips saw him as a kind of "white face" of black music) but I do think it interesting that the song you picked had been recorded 2 years earlier by a black artist.

It's fantastic, but where's the hillbilly catness?

[popcorn]

E = EXTRAORDINARY
L = LEGEND
V = VOCALLY PERFECT
I  = ICON
S = SUPERSTAR

[Proactive]

Just saw this last night and really enjoyed it. I'm no Elvis expert but I thought yer man did an incredible job of physically embodying him, what's the opinion on that from people in the know?

[Sebastian Cobb]

From what I can gather (entirely from just reading a bit on the subject), Elvis was a big fan of black music, spent a fair bit of time showing respect to the artists who influenced him, and came from a culture (poor Southern white trash) that was generally seen by the rest of the country as not that far removed from those black artists anyway.

No doubt Elvis would be seen as racist by our standards, but by the standards of his time he was a lot more opened-minded than most, and it seems like most of the black musicians at the time accepted him as someone doing his own thing.

And to put it in perspective we're talking about an era where Black artists weren't even depicted on their own record sleeves.





American music was so segregated things got re-recorded your elvis' and British invasions were appropriation but it's also the only way people got exposed to it.

[Dr Rock]

'In The Ghetto' is about how the racist oppression of black people is fundamentally systemic.

[dontpaintyourteeth]

My noggin makes it so I can only ever hear Cartman singing it, which is unfortunate

[Dr Rock]

Yes me also.

[Sebastian Cobb]

I get it but also the same with Come Sail Away. Although tbf I rarely need to think about Styx.