In almost two hours of Sofia Coppola’s latest film Priscilla, the titular character (Cailee Spaeney) had a visually and emotionally intricate journey in looking and establishing her agency, seeking her identity beyond being the woman placed and living in the shadow of the King of Rock and Roll, husband Elvis Presley (Jacob Elordi). It’s concerning that media outlets often label the film as the response, the antithesis, or the counterargument against the 2022 flamboyant whitewashing biopic of Elvis directed by Baz Luhrmann. Like our heroine in the film, Priscilla can stand on her own.
Coppola adds Priscilla to her roster of films assessing fame and isolation on a closer and more intimate level. Before the mascara, false eyelashes, and beehive hair, Priscilla Beaulieu is a simple 14-year-old girl sitting on the counter of an American diner in a US Base in West Germany. When a soldier asks her if she’s a fan of Elvis, she says “Of course, who doesn’t?” like it’s a no-brainer. That small encounter would lead her to a life of glitz, glamour, showbiz rumors, and a domestic life with Elvis like no fan would have imagined.
The relationship is questionable because of the huge age gap and the power imbalance between a young girl and a much older rockstar. But why is Priscilla desperate to be with Elvis? The film refused to write Priscilla as a victim of her stupidity by giving her a point of view on their relationship. In her eyes, Elvis is a hardworking, determined, and ambitious man and the entertainment industry has him in a chokehold, squeezing his body to vomit loads of cash. He didn’t mean to hurt her when he threw a chair toward her; he was just frustrated with his record label sending him mediocre demos. Such portrayals can make us understand how red flags are just flags when you look at them through rose-colored glasses.
Priscilla may be a petite, innocent-looking girl who acts like a loyal soldier to Elvis but Coppola portrays her as a strong woman who’s confident about her needs and desires. Priscilla wants to stay with Elvis instead of being with her family and that was eventually granted. She can just go to Elvis without his permission and confront him about the tabloid stories about his reported engagement with actress Ann-Marget. She made Elvis burn his “higher learning” books because it negatively affected how her husband valued physical intimacy. She flew to Los Angeles to drive in the city, swim, learn karate, and mingle with other people who were not part of Elvis’ employees or posse.
Even in their dynamics in bed, Priscilla establishes her desire to be desired: to be touched, make love, and get a ring from her man. When Elvis rejects her advances, it’s because she is willing to control her desire, adjusting it for the man that she has loved since she was young. When her control of desire was disrespected in the latter part of the film, that was the last straw in their polarizing relationship.
Priscilla and Elvis were not giving up in their tug-of-war and the subtle tension between them was equipped by the performances of Spaeney and Elordi. Aside from the height difference as the surface portrayal of their stark gap, the two leads were not just mimicking their real-life characters. They’re focused on portraying how they individually change as they age. Spaeney was so effortless in transitioning her acting from a naive teenager to a mother of one, leaving no doubt that we are watching her grow and mature authentically. In a better version of our world, Spaeney, who won the Volpi Cup for Best Actress at the 2023 Venice Film Festival, is sweeping accolades this awards season.
If Priscilla is not just the answer to Elvis, is it also just an anti-love story? I beg to differ. Priscilla is a coming-of-age of our main subject. Director of Photography Philippe Le Sourd visually narrates Priscilla’s growth by having a microscopic look at the objects surrounding her: the Coca-Cola bottles, the assignments she needs to finish, the false eyelashes, and the LSD-laced sugar cubes, among others. We rarely see any Elvis merchandise but if we do, it’s dependent on how Priscilla evolves. After all, this is her story and Elvis happens to be a part of it. In this narrative, Elvis is in her shadow.
Priscilla is in Philippine cinemas nationwide this January 31.
