Baz Luhrmann loves Elvis Presley a lot, and he’s not able to let go. After discovering never-before-seen footage of Presley’s notorious Las Vegas residency, the Australian director returned to Graceland for EPiC: Elvis Presley in Live performancea companion piece to his 2022 biographical movie Elvis. Luhrmann’s endeavor makes good sense; the filmmaker is enamoured by the dazzling lights of showmanship and who higher embodies the epitome of a stage spectacle than the King of Rock and Roll?
Luhrmann’s journey to the aptly titled EPiC sounds just like the plot of a heist movie. After listening to whispers concerning the legendary recordings, Luhrmann launched into an in depth archival search. Within the salt mine vaults of MGMhe struck gold: bins of unseen negatives containing 59 hours of preserved movie footage for the 1970 documentary Elvis: That’s the Method It Is and the 1972 live performance movie Elvis on Toursat ready for him. Luhrmann and his shut collaborator and editor, Jonathan Redmond, stitched collectively this footage with candidly intimate behind-the-scenes interview audio, permitting Elvis narrate the head of his profession in his personal phrases.
Flitting between 1950s TV efficiency montages and dissatisfied musings on his 1960s Hollywood profession, Luhrmann locates the person behind the iconography. In doing so, EPiC turns into a main contribution to Elvis lore, respiratory new life into the singer’s mythology. The maximalist director finds small particulars, just like the singer entertaining his band with the identical seriousness because the packed Vegas crowd, and presents Elvis as you’ve by no means seen him earlier than. Visually, that’s due to restoration by Peter Jackson’s group. The result’s a rare, technicolour deal with that’s so alive with vibrant power. Color flushes Elvis’ cheeks as each bead of sweat and hair on these spectacular sideburns is seen. Moreover, Luhrmann has proudly famous nthat ot a single body of this movie was touched by AI; it’s Elvis via a clearer lens, however not tainted.
Redmond’s modifying strikes just like the tempo of a live performance, some revealing crowd work (making out with half the gang) earlier than returning to Elvis’ grandiose stage presence. His highly effective vocals at full quantity will push you again in your seat like the joys of a rollercoaster. Although one slight misstep comes with Luhrmann doubling down on his hatred of Colonel Tom Parker, Elvis’ strict supervisor, who was bitterly portrayed by Tom Hanks in Luhrmann’s Elvis biopic. There may be little or no subtlety when a jarring montage of Parker is soundtracked to Elvis performing “You’re the Satan in Disguise”.
By the point EPiC reaches its swan tune, a euphoric efficiency of “Suspicious Minds”, it turns into clear Luhrmann has created no common Elvis documentary nor repetitive live performance movie. The director has described his movie as a poem, however its rhythms really feel extra summary, like recalling one of the best live performance of your life in a dream. Brilliantly forgoing nostalgia to border Elvis within the current, Luhrmann presents the closest expertise of a stay Elvis present that we might ever see. And just like the Vegas residency, EPiC deserves a standing ovation when Luhrmann’s curtain falls.