Elvis Presley in Concert is EPiC…
1977 was quite a year for pop culture. It was the year that saw Star Wars released but also saw the death of Elvis Presley at the age of only 42. For a generation he’s arguably now unknown relegated to tribute acts by balding middle aged men with middle aged spread who have squeezed themselves into too tight rhinestone clad jumpsuits. Baz Luhrmann’s celebratory EPiC Elvis Presley in Concert is a reminder that he was arguably the greatest performer that ever lived.
With a whistle stop look at his early career it sees him take the music world by storm before appearing in a string of increasingly poor films that saw him increasingly disillusioned and desperate to get back to what he did best and really loved doing. Performing. The 1968 TV special was a reminder of how electric he was and after that that from 1969 -1977 he returned to the stage.
How is Elvis Presley in Concert covered?
Part documentary, part concert film Luhrmann has recovered and restored a load of never before seen footage of those performances many at his Las Vegas residency to what appears to be an oestrogen crazed female audience that hug him, shower him with gifts or simply try to kiss him from the front of the stage. There can have been barely be dry seat in the house!
As a natural born performer he is in his element hugely enjoying himself cracking jokes, joshing with his band and backing singers and the film captures a number of barnstorming performances slickly edited as Elvis whips himself, the band and the audiences into an absolute frenzy edited in typically energetic Luhrmann style. There’s a whole load of terrific performances captured here and a reminder that despite being a counterpart to the Beatles he was not adverse to performing several of their songs too.
Is it the whole picture?
There will be criticism that the film doesn’t explore his fame at the expense of black music and culture, that his relationship with Priscilla was far from healthy and the malign influence of his manager Colonel Tom Parker (with military credentials about as credible as Kentucky Fried Chicken’s Colonel Sanders) never explored something that Luhrmann’s biopic was similarly guilty of and is worthy of a film in itself.
But there are occasional glimpses behind the man declining to comment on anything political justifying it by telling a reporter that he’s ‘just an entertainer’. There’s also a rare moment where he admits that having never been to Europe (except a brief stopover in the UK when he was drafted) he would have loved to play there and also Japan too. Again it’s Parker who restricted the singer’s performances to the US only ( its never hinted at that Parker’s alleged military record might have caused issues).
But EPiC is an excellent companion piece to the Austin Butler starrer ‘Elvis’ and a fitting tribute to a singer that was and remains one of the greatest and most iconic performers of any era.
related feature : Baz Luhrmann introduces Tom Hanks & Austin Butler at the UK special screening of, ‘Elvis’
related feature : ‘Before the End : Searching for Jim Morrison’ – STREAMING
Here’s the EPiC Elvis Presley in Concert trailer….
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