Baz Lurhmann: Showman or Snow-man? – A Review of Elvis

There are some filmmakers that leave an indelible mark on you. The ones who the second you sit down, you instantly know you are watching one of their films. Often these are the filmmakers you are introduced to in your youth. For me, Baz Luhrmann is one such filmmaker. He had my generation in a chokehold with his highly stylized tragic love stories: Romeo + Juliet, Moulin Rouge!, and The Great Gatsby. There are probably kids in English classrooms today still being treated to his Romeo + Juliet and The Great Gatsby if those books are on their curriculum (they were on mine). Now while Elvis doesn’t focus on a relationship in the romantic sense like those previous titles, it still carries his signature style and a relationship that ends in tragedy. Though, I would’ve known this film was a Baz Luhrmann film because of the way the camera moves and how POV is filmed. It’s almost kinetic.

The film is about the show-man, Elvis (played by Austin Butler), and the snow-man, not Hank Snow (played by David Wenham) but the man Hank introduced Elvis to, Colonel Tom Parker (played by Tom Hanks). Snow-man comes from the Colonel’s carny days and is a method of persuasion/deception. The fact that the Colonel leads with this in his pitch to Elvis, is telling, but sometimes when you show your cards, people don’t believe the face value. Vegas and gambling are other motifs that replay in the film often, so this played nicely into it.

Austin Butler is magnetic as Elvis. It’s his star performance, which is saying something when you are working with the likes of Tom Hanks. The film begins with the disgraced Colonel getting taken to the hospital. The film’s told from his POV, he’s the unreliable narrator of how Elvis became Elvis, and how their relationship was a part of that, despite what has come out about him since Elvis’ death (or so he wants you to believe). The film spans the entirety of the pair’s relationship, and thus much of Elvis’ career (and all of his success). It is an epic, so it breezes through many years, picking and choosing the moments to lay focus. As a result, the film can feel a bit rushed, even at its long running time, and yet, the scenes included all do help paint a picture of Elvis’ career and why it was the way it was, and how the Colonel played a big role in that both for good and for ill. One of the focus points in the film is how Elvis essentially never left the US as a performer, with the Colonel turning down million-dollar tours in countries like Japan. So, it’s funny that the film was filmed entirely in Australia, a country he himself never visited (only his Gold Cadillac ever toured there). Another focus point it made was on merchandising and the commodification of Elvis. During the first meeting about essentially turning Elvis into a brand, amongst the items for sale are “I hate Elvis” buttons, because the Colonel wanted to capitalize on the hate in addition to the love, it was a moment I came back to think about as the film got darker (as Luhrmann films tend to) near the end.

Bio-pics are often ripe with other historical figures, so other actors get a chance to give a sampling performance of them in a role. The standout for me in this film was Alton Mason as Little Richard. He is better known for his modeling work, this is his first acting role, but I hope it’s not the last. Because, when I was watching him, as great of a performance as Austin Butler was giving, I wouldn’t have been upset if the film had decided to detour and follow Mason’s Little Richard for a while.

Elvis is currently in theatres.

© 2020-2022. UniversalCinema Mag.