EPIC: ELVIS PRESLEY IN CONCERT. Starring Elvis Presley. Directed and produced by Baz Luhrmann. Rated PG (mild coarse language). 96 min.
The movie retrieves lost footage of Elvis Presley in documentary style, and is directed by acclaimed Australian director, Baz Luhrmann. It includes footage, not shown before of Presley while he was resident in Las Vegas in the 1970s, and while he was on Tour around that time.
Review by Peter W Sheehan, Jesuit Media Australia
Australia has produced many famous Directors. Baz Luhrmann is one such Director, and this movie employs his cinematic expertise in a highly accomplished way. The film is Luhrmann’s follow-up to his 2022 biographical film, “Elvis”. It restores sound to lost footage, and the movie, like others, recognises the continued popularity of Elvis Presley, who was born in 1935 and died in 1977. The film concludes by telling us that “Elvis ate America before America ate him”.
Luhrmann as a Director is deservedly famous for “Strictly Ballroom” (1992) and “Moulin Rouge” (2001), both of which captured the thrill of dance and music that has been enjoyed by attentive and receptive theatre and cinema audiences everywhere. Much of the footage in this film has not been seen before, and the film brilliantly features additional not-seen-before tracks of Elvis Presley as a musical legend.
The film blends state-of-the-art technology with concert footage, and often uses a full orchestra to capture Elvis as a singer. Elvis has charismatically attracted millions of followers with a unique voice and style. At the same time as featuring Elvis as a performer, the film offers comment on his life. Other films, like Sofia Coppola’s “Priscilla (2023), have dissected people around Elvis, who significantly influenced his life by offering other kinds of meaning – this film concentrates distinctively on Elvis as a unique singer and performer.
The film sets a new standard for concert movies. It captures Elvis at the height of his powers and presents him, his singing and his songs, in ways that have not been seen or heard before. Baz Luhrmann, as Director, shows unmistakeable flair and his film delivers the musical performances of Elvis Presley forcefully and with commanding style.
Peter W Sheehan, an Associate of Jesuit Media