movie review
EPIC: ELVIS PRESLEY IN CONCERT
Running time: 100 minutes.
TORONTO — Elvis fans will have some choice words for Baz Luhrmann after they watch his new music documentary “EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert,” which had its world premiere Saturday at the Toronto International Film Festival.
They’ll say, “Thank you, thank you very much!”
The snap-crackle-pop Aussie’s latest project, which does not have a distributor or release date yet, is nothing short of unburied treasure for lovers of The King. A veritable King Tut’s tomb of rock.
And like those 1920s Egyptologists, Luhrmann had to dig.
The “Elvis” and “Moulin Rouge” director secured rare access to 59 hours of negatives of Presley’s seven-year Las Vegas residency at the International Hotel that had been gathering dust in Warner Bros’ vault in an underground Kansas salt mine.
It’s a storied run of 636 intimate performances that went from 1969 to ‘76 — the year before Elvis died at age 42. You can probably picture the iconic marquee. But existing clips of the stint are hard to find and grainy if you do.
No longer. Luhrmann, his collaborators and Peter Jackson have beautifully restored the trove of video they found and whittled it down into an electric glimpse at what those Nevada nights with The King were really like.
What a supreme entertainer Presley was, and right till the end.
His soulfulness, funny improvised banter, full-mouthed makeouts with pretty fans and his rock-solid pipes are all on glorious display. And fascinating behind-the-scenes rehearsal footage shows how surprisingly smart and musically agile Elvis could be.
The movie also offers a vibrant sense of the frenzied crowd atmosphere in the venue, which is now the Westgate Las Vegas Resort. Women with beehive hairdos at banquetes smoke cigs, pound Champagne and shriek as if they’d been possessed.
Premieres are premieres, I know. But the 70 or so ladies (and a sprinkle of gents) who got up and danced like schoolgirls at the Princess of Wales Theatre during “Suspicious Minds” could clearly feel their temperature risin’ in already-chilly Toronto.
“EPiC” is not only a rousing musical act, though. There’s a life-story side, albeit not cradle to grave, and Luhrmann uses old, long-disappeared Elvis interview audio from a revealing press conference to let the subject narrate his tale while offering personal opinions and deep insight.
Gradually the two halves meld. For example, when he sings “Always On My Mind,” we see Elvis and Priscilla Presley playing with baby Lisa Marie. That’s especially poignant, since his daughter died just two years ago.
For those who do not have a room in the house devoted to Elvis memorabilia, or care a lick about the guy, “EPiC” is still an energizing experience. To my mind, there’s nothing better than observing the greatest artists of all time do what they do best — unvarnished.
And, if you’re on the fence now, you’ll walk away believing Elvis was, indeed, one of the greats.
There is an indescribable magic in watching the star conjure a crowd’s hysteria. And because the video is so crystal clear and crisp, his aura bursts through the screen as if it’s a window.
In this stage of his career, Luhrmann keeps doing right by The King. His Best Picture-nominated “Elvis,” starring Austin Butler, did a vital service to the legacy of Presley, who’d been unfairly turned into a paunchy punchline since his death.
That sexy, galvanizing film reminded older generations, and educated younger ones, that Elvis was a controversial, culture-shaking, barrier-busting, rabble-rousing, singular musical force.
Epic is the word. And “EPiC” has done so again.
