Posted at 12:08 p.m.
Festive, exuberant, epic, explosive, overflowing, driving, flamboyant. These few words crossed our minds at the presentation of the film’s trailer Elvis by Baz Luhrmann, made public Thursday noon, in anticipation of the film’s release on June 24.
Admittedly, trailers are no guarantee of good films. But the Elvis by Baz Luhrmann promises to be abundantly baroque, as were, for example, red Mill and The Great Gatsby.
In a virtual press meeting hosted by filmmaker, writer and journalist Nelson Geroge, the Australian-born director said his Elvis won’t make it into the classic biopic.
PHOTO HUGH STEWART, SUPPLIED BY WARNER BROS. PICTURES
Austin Butler becomes Elvis in Baz Luhrmann’s next film.
“The film molds itself to my past as a storyteller, says Mr. Luhrmann during this event, which was also attended by Austin Butler (The Dead Don’t Die, Once Upon A Time in Hollywood) who embodies the King. You can’t find a better life than that of Elvis as a canvas for exploring America in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.”
Indeed ! From what we’ve seen, with the trailer now available, the film takes us into the life of Elvis (Aaron Presley) who, as a kid from Tupelo, Mississippi, gorges on beats gospel music during performances. Later, we follow him to Club Handy on Beale Street in Memphis, Tennessee, an important milestone in his career. And later still, we see him mourning the death of Martin Luther King. Here, legend intersects with history.
Music and African-American culture have a crucial importance in the life of the King, insists Baz Luhrmann. “If you take that out of the story, you have no more story,” he explains. The goal of my film is to return to the essence of what Elvis is. And it is in gospel music that it is found. »
Around Austin Butler, we find Olivia DeJonge (Priscilla Presley), Kelvin Harrison Jr. (BB King), Yola Quartey (Sister Rosetta Tharpe) and especially Tom Hanks who plays Colonel Parker, the King’s essential impresario. Without embarrassment, this character presents himself in the trailer as the villain of the story.
Naughty or not, we must remember that it is by Colonel Parker that the story of Elvis is told. It is through his eyes that we see the birth and evolution of this immense star of song and stage.
PHOTO HUGH STEWART, SUPPLIED BY WARNER BROS. PICTURES
Austin Butler and Tom Hanks in a scene from the movie Elvis.
When Parker approaches young Elvis in hopes of taking his career into his own hands, he says, “Come on! You and I are the same. We are two lonely children in search of eternity. »
“The character of Tom defends his version of the story, indicates Baz Luhrmann. It’s his version of the life of Elvis. Remember this little story I told: The Great Gatsby. That may be the title of the movie, but it’s actually Gatsby’s story as told by Nick Carraway’s (Tobey Maguire) character. »
Like loose clothes
The director and the main actor worked for a long time, almost three years, before this shoot. They were able to immerse themselves in life and in the entourage of Elvis Presley by staying in Memphis and at his Graceland residence. They worked on the voice, the attitudes, the movement, but also the different eras and generations.
Baz Luhrmann thus makes connections between the success of the King and the emergence of a new generation of teenagers, more saucy than their elders, in post-war America. “They have money. They have radios. It’s like social media today. They are on it day and night,” says the director, for whom the Elvis we will see in the film is far from smooth.
Austin Butler dwells on the immensity of the character. “It was quite a challenge, he slips. At first, I felt like a kid putting on his father’s clothes. The sleeves are too long, the shoes are like boats. I told myself it was impossible. Over time, I began to grow in him and better feel his humanity. »
Butler also highlights the work on his voice. “A year before the shooting, I worked, six, seven days a week with coaches, experts to have the right register, the right dialect, the inflections, etc. »
For the movements and the dance, the production called on the choreographer Polly Bennett who, among other things, guided Rami Malek for the character of Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody.
“I feel a great responsibility, concludes Austin Butler. Not only to Elvis and his life, but to his family and to all of his fans around the world who love him so dearly. »