Elvis is bringing to life the rise to fame and subsequent fall of legendary artist Elvis Presley. Known also as the “King of Rock and Roll”, Elvis isn’t exactly a picture-perfect hero, and in the new film by visionary director Baz Luhrmann, we get a closer look at the man that Elvis was, for better or for worse. At the MTV Movie & TV Awards, a new clip for the film was released that highlights Austin Butler as the rock-n-roll singer with the hips that defined a generation.
Whether you like Elvis or not is honestly beside the point, as the clip shows exactly how Elvis changed the world, and to be quite honest, it wasn’t really through his music. (Though I do love Elvis’ song “If I Can Dream” very much). What defined Elvis was his sex appeal and the craze that swept the nation as women and men flocked to his shows to scream for him. And with that came the subsequent conservative view on his hips and how they tried to control his performances.
In the clip released, we see the iconic moment in Elvis’ career where he put himself and his image above whatever they were trying to push onto him. Specifically when they told him that he better not even wiggle a finger and Elvis, of course, didn’t listen to a word they said. The film also stars Tom Hanks as Elvis’ talent manager Colonel Tom Parker, who dubs himself the villain in other trailers for the Luhrmann film.
Is this movie going to be absolutely over the top? Yes, of course it is. Not only because it is a movie about none other than Elvis, but it is also a Luhrmann movie. For many, they’ve loved his dramatic telling of Romeo + Juliet or, if you’re like me, you’ve been a die-hard fan of Moulin Rouge! since its release. That’s all thanks to Luhrmann’s distinctive style. This film seems more in the same vein as his 2013 adaptation of The Great Gatsby, which has that Luhrmann flair we’ve come to know and love.
So this scene having the dramatics of Butler’s Elvis mixed with the lens of Luhrmann feels so right and exactly what I expected out of this movie from its announcement. Now, if only we could figure out just what this story is going to tell us about the complicated life of the King of Rock ‘n Roll. Until then though, you can watch the clip below:
