Baz Lurhmann's Elvis is colorful, loud, and entertaining. The director uses fun visuals and transitions to suck the audience into the world of a music video. Austin Butler and Tom Hanks give spectacular performances as Elvis Pressley and Colonel Tom Parker. However, my favorite element of the film is the framing device used to manipulate the audience.
The story is told simultaneously through an objective view alongside the Colonel's narration of how he viewed the events. He speaks directly to convincing to convince us to believe him.
The character is introduced as a "snowman," essentially a con man. Having a conman show us the events while angling them from his point of view to sell us that we, the audience, are the actual villains is brilliant. He introduces himself as a guide and a helper in understanding the story but has an ulterior motive of proving his innocence. I think it's brilliant.
Some may find it a little over the top. I think that could be a fair criticism, but I enjoyed it. The film felt like a conversation rather than a lecture.
The juxtaposition between the bright colors and the lonely home life kept the audience bouncing between the life of a rock star and the life of a lonely person.
Even Elvis tried to manipulate us. The film frames him as a poor kid that a conman took advantage of for personal gain. Again, the framing makes the film worth watching. It takes advantage of the form to look at Elvis in multiple ways. Elvis never really defines himself, and neither does the movie. Several characters define him for us. The choice to focus on Elvis's downfalls and who to blame made it different than the typical biopic of sepia-toned reminiscing.
So, if you don't hate Elvis, it's worth watching. Heck, with the direction and acting, it's worth watching anyway.
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