Priscilla Presley, the fashion icon and it girl of the sixties, recently executively produced a movie about her past relationship with Elvis starring Cailee Spaeny and Jacob Elordi. It is based on her highly acclaimed memoir, Elvis and Me, which stunned fans with her shocking new point of view on the well-known couple. Additionally, Priscilla is both written and directed by Sofia Coppola who, with her signature style involving a girlish aesthetic and enlightening female perspectives, is the perfect candidate for creating this film. Priscilla and Sofia worked together to make an accurate and eye-opening portrayal of Priscilla’s life and her controversial experiences with Elvis.
Priscilla Presley was only fourteen years old when she began dating twenty four year old rock star, Elvis Presley. She moved in with him while she was still a teenager, although they didn’t marry until later. Priscilla had to balance her contradictory lives: one as a schoolgirl, and the other as the girlfriend of a world-famous singer. The movie explores the highlights of her relationship with Elvis, including all of the lighthearted and lively moments they shared; however, it also shines light on the flaws of their relationship. Particularly, Elvis had an obvious superiority complex over Priscilla, being almost a decade older than her. Her opinions were often lost in the midst of her love for Elvis. Issues such as these eventually built up to their divorce, which was mainly told from the external sources of tabloids and public opinions in the sixties and seventies. This not only silenced Priscilla, but it hindered her ability to process her true feelings for Elvis. This movie is finally able to bring a different perspective to this story.
It was very important to Priscilla that her true voice was able to be heard. It was undeniably difficult to portray how toxic her relationship was while maintaining the fact that she has—and always will—love Elvis. Familiar with glamorizing an otherwise dark situation, as is verified by her other films such as The Virgin Suicides or Marie Antoninette, Sofia Coppola was able to expertly demonstrate this theme. The movie contrasts Priscilla’s feelings of freedom and entrapment with that of other girls her age. It demonstrated her skill to ignore the abuse she was enduring while also highlighting the euphoric qualities of her day-to-day life. Coppola completes her highly emotional film with a touch of visual beauty; Priscilla is filled with aesthetically pleasing settings and props. These accessories are not only accurate to the time period, but also honest in the way they depict the constant frame of mind of a woman in any time period. Throughout the movie, clothing, personal belongings, makeup, hair-styles, and many more accents come to represent the emotions and feelings of turmoil that Priscilla was going through. This includes freeing clothing when Priscilla was in control of her own life and more confiscating attire when she was under Elvis’ control. Overall, Priscilla’s accessories fit a more personal taste as she went through the journey of finding herself. Coppola has used this stylish technique in many of her films to represent character development as the viewer processes the setting. In this way, Coppola utilizes the “show, don’t tell” technique, as well as innuendos to hint at power dynamics, feelings of self-doubt, and eventual strength and perseverance. These nuances are highly significant and help make the movie so engaging, causing the audience to delve deeper into the metaphors explored throughout Priscilla’s story.
Priscilla is a very intricate, artistic film which, because of the delicate matter it focuses on, has not always been received well by general mainstream audiences. Priscilla Presley and Sofia Coppola worked together to make a movie that would not only sell well, but one that would elevate the mindset of the viewer and remain accurate to Priscilla’s perspective at each stage of her life. It is made with a female audience in mind and it promotes awareness about situations women experience everyday. While teaching all these essential lessons, it is still a very interesting movie to watch. It is now available to purchase on Apple TV and will soon become available on other streaming platforms. In every possible way, Priscilla is a masterpiece and should be viewed and experienced by women of all ages.
