Summary
Sofia Coppola returns to a period setting for another insightful examination of our collective obsession with celebrity through her truly unique gaze.
Even now, the relationship between Elvis Presley and Priscilla is painted as something of a love story. This is largely because, like people who aspire to be Romeo and Juliet, the promise of all-encompassing romance blinds us to how that all turned out.
Priscilla Ann Wagner (played here by Cailee Spaeny) was only 14 when she met 24-year old Elvis Presley (Jacob Elordi) during his military service in Germany in 1959. She naturally falls head over heels for him.
In 1962, when Priscilla was still a minor, Elvis Presley sends her airfare and invites her to come and live with him in Graceland. From here, Coppola paints an impressionistic portrait of a child kept like an object in a gilded cage, all the while trying to complete high school. Elvis’ highly publicised affairs, his increasing paranoia and substance abuse take a toll.
The casting and styling of the magnificent Cailee Spaeny tells you almost everything you need to know about Sofia Coppola’s take. In contrast to Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis (2022), where Priscilla is merely depicted as one of the anchors in the star’s life, the ‘great public romance’ told back through Priscilla’s lens. In that view, we see a child who was groomed by an adult man and kept like a doll on a shelf “to be there when I call.” It’s a dynamic everyone around them allowed, and Coppola peppers the dialogue with constant references to how much Priscilla looks like “a little girl.” Through our pop culture obsession over the decades, Coppola reminds us of our collective culpability.
Elordi, who was the lighting rod at the centre of Saltburn, has a more downbeat turn as Elvis. We’ve grown so used to seeing Elvis the icon, a gyrating performer in a jumpsuit that Austin Butler leaned into heavily. Elordi’s Elvis is a more complicated character, and Coppola’s script makes him equal parts predator and frightened figure.
Coppola and regular collaborator Philippe Le Sourd’s dreamlike photography is stunning, focusing in on seeming minute details of objects like hair brushes or false eyelashes. The visual metaphor isn’t lost: Priscilla too is part of this ornate dollhouse. In fact, it’s rare that we leave Graceland for long, and when we do it feels like the outside world is intruding on this carefully constructed bubble.
Similarly, Coppola has always had the ability to use the soundtrack like a scalpel, and her latest collaboration with Phoenix continues that trend. Yet it’s perhaps that final song – which you won’t find on the official soundtrack – that hits the hardest.
A definite contender for all the shiny things during this year’s awards season, PRISCILLA is Coppola’s most confident work in years. Indeed, thematically linked all the way back to The Virgin Suicides, here we watch the artist come full circle.
2023 | USA | DIRECTOR: Sofia Coppola | WRITERS: Sofia Coppola | CAST: Cailee Spaeny, Jacob Elordi, Dagmara Domińczyk, Ari Cohen | DISTRIBUTOR: A24 (US), Madman Films (Australia) | RUNNING TIME: 114 minutes | RELEASE DATE: 27 October 2023 (USA), 18 January 2024 (Australia)
