In the image, a pair of carefully pedicured feet with magenta-varnished nails advances on a fluffy pink carpet. Harp notes complete the impression of sweet bliss. Suddenly, the music emits sinister distortions, fleetingly. With a subtle evocative force and admirable economy, the opening sequence of the film Priscilla gives the content of what will follow: an anti-fairy tale, the one that Priscilla Beaulieu experienced when she became Priscilla Presley. During a virtual conference at which The duty was invited exclusively, the director-writer Sofia Coppola and her star, Cailee Spaeny, return to this splendid impressionist biography.
“I came across the memoirs of Priscilla Presley by chance [Elvis and Me, publié en 1985]and I admit that I did not expect to be so captivated, so challenged,” explains Sofia Coppola.
“I realized how little I knew about her. Above all, I was very moved by her story: how she went from an impressionable young girl to an independent woman, through a journey that was unusual to say the least. »
Priscilla was 14 when she met Elvis, who was 24. The singer was then stationed in Germany, on the same military base as the teenager’s father. Love at first sight is mutual, and a chaste relationship begins with the blessing (not devoid of anguish) of Priscilla’s parents.
“I was amazed that her parents agreed to this, but at the same time, Priscilla is from my parents’ generation; it was very different,” notes the filmmaker, who specifies that she enjoyed learning more, through the project, about the time when her own mother was a teenager.
At age 16, Priscilla moved to Graceland and completed her schooling in Tennessee. At 21, still a virgin, she married Elvis. Nine months later, she gave birth to their daughter, Lisa Marie.
In the meantime, a slow disenchantment emerges, Priscilla coming to understand that she is the prisoner of a golden cage. Elvis chooses his clothes, his hair color (matching his own)…
“The costume and hair artists really helped me put together this performance,” says Cailee Spaeny, winner of the Best Actress Award at the Venice Film Festival.
“Their attention to all kinds of little details gave me plenty of anchors for my interpretation. »
You should know that the actress plays the protagonist from the age of 14 to 28 years old. However, the film not having been shot in chronology, which is not unusual, Cailee Spaeny needed these “anchor points” all the more in order to properly modulate the psychological evolution of her character.
Her story
The star was also able to count on the support of the subject, Priscilla Presley, who co-produced the film.
“Meeting Priscilla was very stressful,” admits Cailee Spaeny. Because I didn’t want to seem like I was interviewing him. But she was great. She told me very specific memories. I see her again, her eyes shining, remembering a tender moment with Elvis, or bursting out laughing while remembering a funny thing known only to them…”
Sofia Coppola notes in this regard that Priscilla Presley showed immense generosity by allowing the filmmaker to enter her secret garden. In fact, there are certain elements in the film that are not in the book.
“The date scene where Priscilla and Elvis are at the movies, and he says Humphrey Bogart’s lines, and then he talks about Marlon Brando and his desire to go study acting at the Actors Studio, it’s not in the autobiography. This is something Priscilla told me. It sheds an interesting light on Elvis’s frustrated artistic aspirations. »
However, the center of interest remains Priscilla throughout. In the film, this desire to place Priscilla distinctly at the forefront, and Elvis more on the periphery, occurs in particular through the musical choices (music always occupies a significant function for the filmmaker). Apart from a furtive piano version of Love Me Tenderallusions to Elvis’ hits are rare.
Normal: it’s not his story.
“It’s her story,” agrees Sofia Coppola. And Elvis happens to be there. The opening shot is also this: we follow her steps; we’re going to sort of step into his shoes. »
Other songs are there to comment on the action, like Venus, by Frankie Avalon, covered by the group Phoenix. We hear it at the beginning, during the restaurant scene, when a friend of Elvis approaches young Priscilla like a tout. “Venus, if you will / Please send a little girl for me to thrill”. No, this is not a fairy tale.
In line
This bias in terms of narrative focus places Priscilla in perfect continuity with Coppola’s previous films, such as The Virgin Suicides (Ultimate Scream), Lost in Translation (Unfaithful translation), Marie Antoinette And Somewhere (Somewhere), all centered around young heroines in search of themselves.
“I learned to follow my instincts and go towards what interests me. The question of the quest for identity interests me,” summarizes the filmmaker, who adds in the same breath:
“We are living a moment in our culture where people are more open to hearing and seeing stories told by women. »
Asked what she hopes audiences will take away from their film, Cailee Spaeny responds:
“I was struck by what she exuded. She is very elegant, expresses herself very well, but beneath that surface, there is a woman who doesn’t let anyone dictate to her. »
Sofia Coppola concludes:
“All we focused on about her was her beauty and her glamour. We have no idea the extent of his strength and resilience. She was able to realize that this “perfect life” was not for her. »
It is this “impressionable young girl” who became an “independent woman” that Sofia Coppola wanted to tell and celebrate.
Delicate and powerful Priscilla