Early in Sofia Coppola's languid distillation of Priscilla Presley's life with Elvis, she receives a beautifully coiffed and presented gift of a pet poodle. Priscilla (Cailee Spaeny) had recently moved into Graceland when she gets the present. 14 when they met in Germany, Priscilla was still only 17. She coddles the pooch and treats it like a little princess. Coppola (who wrote the screenplay adapted from Priscilla's book) makes a case that Elvis (Jacob Elordi) viewed his then future wife as a type of possession. When the teenager asks for permission to take a part-time job, the musician forbades it saying that he needs her to be available whenever he desires. Like the dog, Priscilla is always to be primped and pampered to its owner's specifications.
One could say that PRISCILLA represents the other side of Baz Luhrman's recent phantasmagorical film ELVIS in both style and POV. That's certainly true in many ways, but it's doubtful that Coppola would have made her movie much differently even if Luhrman's film didn't exist. Phillipe La Sourd's cinematography, Tamara Deverell's Production Design and Stacey Battat's costuming all fit nicely within Coppola's aesthetic. The filmmaker's love of pop music is also fully on display with period songs mixed freely with more recent tunes in a similar vein (the movie begins with The Ramones and fades out with Dolly Parton).
Coppola has rarely been an auteur interested in pure plot and narrative drive. She prefers to soak the viewer into the milieu of her characters. On that level, PRISCILLA has a certain effectiveness. Neither Spaeny nor Elordi are stars, but, their anonymity adds to their relatability. Elordi in particular, faces not only comparisons to Austin Butler's ebullient Oscar nominated performance, but decades of imitators. He humanizes the mythic figure even if, at a certain point, his lack of flash reduces the King of Rock 'N Roll to too much the mere mortal. The elephant in the room is, of course, that Elvis would be considered persona non grata in today's climate. When Priscilla first enters Graceland, Elvis' ever-present entourage are taken aback at how young she looks. Coppola exaggerates the difference by casting actors over a foot apart in height (the real difference was closer to 8"). It does make her look like a little girl (and Spaeny convincingly pulls it off despite being only a year younger than Elordi; Elvis was a decade Priscilla's senior). In Coppola (and Priscilla's) telling, Elvis isn't portrayed as making his young wife into a purely sexual object. He kept her under glass in his misguided notion that he was protecting her. To make her into an idealized good Christian girl and modern Southern belle who his recently deceased mama could have been proud of. It's an extraordinary tricky balance - particularly with the real Priscilla being a Producer on this film.
By design, PRISCILLA never takes a truly deep look at all the details of the couple's lives. Colonel Tom Parker is only vaguely alluded to. The viewer sees Elvis performing only near the very end, and briefly. Once at Graceland, Priscilla is barely shown with anyone other than Elvis' posse. The movie only spans the years they were together. It's a very insular movie which relies heavily on mood and atmosphere. It will be up to each individual viewer if that is sufficient.
