But does the movie really do an injustice to the King of Rock and Roll?
DirectorSofia Coppolascrubs at tarnished memories for the biopicPriscilla.
Its a bold choice sinceElvis Presleydisciples prefer admiring unvarnished relics in a still-flourishing golden hue.
Why are you coming for my dad and my family?
Elvis daughter Lisa Marie Presley wrote Coppola after reading an early draft of the screenplay, as perVariety.
My father only comes across as a predator and manipulative, the provocative emails insinuated.
As his daughter, I dont read this and see any of my father in this character.
I dont read this and see my mothers perspective of my father.
Lisa Marie found the script shockingly vengeful and contemptuous.
It is not known how seriously these suggestions were considered.
This reportedly toned down elements from the movies nonfiction source material.
But inherentlyPriscillais incapable of being blatantly unfair to Elvis, because it is not his story.
What Grade Are You In?
Even musicians balked at the charismatically rhythmic hillbilly when he first hit the scene.
Frank Sinatra initially referred to Presleys country boy brand of rock and roll as a rancid aphrodisiac.
Broadly accurate, and abridgedly fair,Priscillaisnt for Elvis fans.
His songs are not played.
There is no representation of Elvis Presley (Jacob Elordi) in front of an audience.
His onstage presence is offscreen.
The audience hears only vague references to the periods depicted, and a fleeting mention of Col. Tom Parker.
Priscilla Ann Wagner was born in Brooklyn.
Her mother, Ann, married U.S. Air Force Officer Capt.
Paul Bealieu, relocating frequently as his assignments warranted.
Elvis was a national star by the age of 20, living in a bubble he didnt know existed.
There really were no rock stars before him, certainly of his magnitude.
His situation was unprecedented.
His status was unique.
Priscilla and Elvis were introduced at a party in West Germany in 1959.
Priscilla, an Army brat haltingly discovering teen rebellion, was 14.
The age gap is uncomfortably problematic, regardless of how it is spun.
The rock fans idolization is systematically guided.
Fictionalized as it may be, the pattern is a fair representation of the trajectory.
Never one to waste film stock on preamble, Coppola shrouds unspoken histories through subliminal audio and cultural clues.
At their initial meeting, Presley is called to the piano to get the party started.
The implications are vague but pointed.
The film telegraphs how creepy the handsome, successful singing idol is from the initial small talk.
Elvis is looking to matriculate; Priscilla still shows her student ID to get into the library.
The mundane tweaks normalize the atmosphere.
Nothing seems out of the ordinary, at least on the surface.
The couple, who saved themselves, married at the Las Vegas Aladdin Hotel in May 1967.
The ceremony ran eight minutes as Parker squeezed publicity from the event.
Priscilla learned she was pregnant with Lisa Marie shortly after the wedding.
Presley had affairs, and rumors linked him with endless speculative couplings.
The press reported on romances with Nancy Sinatra and hisViva Las Vegasco-star Ann-Margret.
Its hard not to imagine Presley, the rock legend and matinee idol, circumnavigating Hollywood unencumbered by entanglements.
He thought she was raised to ignore such things.
Grooming is not limited to its defined role in prolonged seduction; it also refers to personal presentation.
Elvis was an icon, and Priscilla had to match.
Forever in the spotlight, the pairs job was to epitomize the standard of stardom.
He rejected the patterns which carried army-issued triggered PTSD reactions, like browns.
Priscilla was assembled for showings, and only had limited engagements.
This is corroborated by no less than the Beatles Paul McCartney.
Priscella was exhibited as an art installation rather than a wife.
She didnt need to be put away quite so quickly, we thought, McCartney said.
Most documentaries and features on Elvis reference the artists growing drug use.
He claims he discovered Dexedrine in the Army, and his personal physician refilled his stash throughout Presleys career.
The sequence in the film where the pair experiment with LSD is also documented in the book.
Although it provided positive insights for both, it was a one-off experience.
The Presleys were day trippers.
Its no secret Elvis had a temper and was prone to spontaneous bouts of violence.
Tales abound about him shooting out TV sets when Robert Goulet came on.
Far more insidious and unfair charges have been laid at Elvis feet.
Tabloids claimed the couple was celibate after Lisa Maries birth because of some sexual hangup.
We know very little about Elvis Presley, the man.
Even his most personal quirks merely add to his legend.
The romance is creepy, but the depiction is fair.
They did, after all, walk away from their divorce holding hands.
