Tea at Trianon: Elvis (2022)

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Tuesday, August 30, 2022

Elvis (2022)

I was never an Elvis Presley fan, although I always loved how he sang "I Can't Help Falling in Love with You." Plus I enjoyed the film Wild in the Country, one of his few serious dramatic roles. I believed he could have been more than he was and it seems, according to Baz Luhrman's new film, that Elvis did as well. A true artist, he had a desire to channel the raw talent he possessed to become a great dramatic actor, being embarrassed by all the silly beach movies. Instead he wound up in a golden cage in Vegas as an aging, flabby, drugged-out caricature of himself. Elvis (2022) portrays the cultural and sexual revolutions of the mid-20th century that Mr. Presley helped to launch, although he himself was of a romantic, old-fashioned bent. A child of the South, living in African American neighborhoods where he was often the only white boy, Elvis was mesmerized by both the blues and the gospel music he heard all around him. Racial segregation had made African-American culture separate and therefore forbidden to white Americans, and whatever is forbidden tends to fascinate. Elvis' own performances were a merging of both the sexual and religious ecstasies he had witnessed growing up. Being white, his participation in what was taboo for WASP Americans had an intoxicating impact on the masses who came to his shows.

The movie focuses on the machinations of Elvis' manager, Colonel Tom Parker, who was neither a Parker nor a colonel, but a Dutch conman with a murky past. Parker was also an illegal alien; his lack of a valid passport made him scheme to keep Elvis in the USA, rather than touring the world as the singer longed to do. Parker always feared losing the control he had acquired over Elvis and his family. In many ways, Elvis and his parents were innocents, and placed their trust in Parker simply because the entertainment industry was complex beyond their comprehension. Their trust was abused; their son was destroyed.

According to Prevention:

It’s been 45 years since rock legend Elvis Presley died at age 42, and although his legacy is just as strong today—if not stronger—than it was then, his wife Priscilla Presley continues to make it her duty to fulfill the dreams he never lived out Earth-side. That’s why it was particularly difficult for the 77-year-old to watch the Austin Butler-led biopic, Elvis, because it served as a reminder that his time was cut short.

“He wanted to do movies, serious movies,” she recently explained to Today. And, as portrayed in Elvis, his manager Colonel Parker (played by Tom Hanks), stood in the way of that. (Elvis did act in an array of feature films, most of which were romantic musicals centered around his songs, not the dramatic roles he hoped for.) “[Colonel] probably should have stayed a publicist,” Priscilla added. “He didn’t take Elvis where he wanted to be, and that was hard because I lived it.” (Read more.)

Throughout the soundtrack is woven the tune of "Unchained Melody," making Elvis' marriage the centerpiece of the story. Priscilla Beaulieu appears as a saving angel and wins the heart of the King of Rock n' Roll. Disappointed with himself, Elvis turns to drugs and sex (with women not his wife) which leads to him losing Priscilla. I wish there had been more about their meeting and earlier years but Luhrman's editing is sometimes jerky and and uneven in what he chooses to emphasize. What is shown, however, is beautiful, tragic and well-played.