Priscilla - The Better Biopic (Review)

Sophia cop's Priscilla is about Priscilla Presley as in Priscilla Presley it stars Kaylee spany and Jacob Lori and it's the second Elvis related movie to come out in the last 2 years I got to get the obvious out of the way a film simply titled Elvis coming out just a year before a film simply titled Priscilla one of which was large scattered and shiny and this other one being quiet focused and muted I mean there's just so much to say about them as a parent it's really easy to call Priscilla an anti Elvis movie hence my thumbnail it certainly doesn't paint the guy himself in a great light and it takes a radically different approach stylistically to the other film it's also worth mentioning that in the film Elvis Priscilla gets maybe 10 minutes of screen time which I don't mean to sound like a dig if anything it kind of successfully captured how small she was to him in the grand scheme of things all that said though I see this film less as a response or as being actively against Elvis 2022 and more as an added layer to this story at the end of the day though you guys want to hear which one I thought was better and despite being an Elvis 2020 to enjoyer I think Priscilla easily clears and in the process left me feeling a bit scared of el this almost as scared as I am of my information online being unprotected which is why I want to thank this week's sponsor surf shark VPN surf shark VPN keeps your online identity safe by encrypting all of the information sent between your device and the internet this keeps your personal data protected from big companies or cyber criminals if you didn't know a VPN swaps the real location of your device with a new one obviously as a film guy my favorite feature is that I can access and unblock content libraries and streaming services from other countries like all of the Netflix libraries there are a lot of new releases coming out right now specifically and having a VPN really helps you keep on top of them no matter what country you're 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so overdone and feel like Impressions rather than people and this is a very grounded and careful performance it's funny cuz I was just talking about Andrew Scott and all of us strangers and how that was a performance with not a ton of talking with multiple masks that had to cover up a hidden emotion that the audience could still feel and pick up on and Kaylee spany accomplishes the same thing but makes it look easy I love every scene where Copa chooses to hold on Priscilla's face as the people in the room fill the space with sound and not only emphasizes how small she is in these spaces but also it proves how good spany is as an actor that she can carry this kind of screen time with ease and draw the viewer in with just her face and Jacob aori in my opinion just as good honestly I would always really liked him and Euphoria but never felt like he got the time to really shine and he's not doing anything ridiculously loud in this movie but I think he gets to flex how much he's able to do with a low-key performance performance aside the man's screen presence is large an absolute unit to steal scorsese's line he had that girth I think his voice sounds way more like Elvis than Austin Butler but I do think I prefer Butler's performance at the end of the day not that it matters in this film lordy does about as much as he needed to do for the character and he does it very well in my opinion after all it is a quiet and oftentimes subtle movie I think all Lordi as an actor fit just perfectly for what this needed but that said I I did smile a little bit every time I pictured Tom HKS showing up as the colonel in this movie missed opportunity the performances are very much not what I was expecting from a biopic and they're one of the few aspects that really break away from the tropes associated with this sub genre this review is already all over the place but I think now is a decent time to talk about what didn't work for me about this film before I gush about it anymore see I've been struggling to wrap my head around what this film was missing something I grapple with when it comes to nearly every Sophia Copa movie but Priscilla especially truly got to me because it's a fairly airtight film that does everything it should do for this story yet there was something missing some ingredient to take it to the next level for me if I were to identify the single thing that holds this film back it's how straightforward and stuck it feels to the biopic formula don't get me wrong there are moments here that shine and feel full Sophia Copa there are sections here specifically as things start to wrap up where it feels a little wooden a little restrained for what I'm used to from her work there's an argument to be made that the anarchic qualities are just a lot subtler in this film compared to what she was doing in Marie Annette or The Virgin Suicides the very existence of a Priscilla movie that paints Elvis in a bad light right after a Resurgence of Elvis praise is pretty bold but I wish I felt this a bit more in the film itself rather than from the outside you could argue that this stiffer approach matches the trapped feeling that Priscilla experiences for most of the film but to me it held it back from ever being a full picture of of Priscilla I mean there's an entire Sophia Copa movie you could make immediately after the final shot of this film that would feel a lot more unhinged and I I just kind of wished it had kept going for that reason point is for as conventional as the film feels at times despite it holding the film back I think this quality is worth more than just for the sake of playing it safe she somehow finds a way to use a conventional style of Storytelling to its Advantage you know so that said back to what I loved the editing for as straightforward as this is I think that allows the film to just fly it's just under 2 hours and it truly felt like a tight hour 20 which was insane I can't remember the last time I was truly shocked to see the credits I fully believe there was like 30 minutes left there isn't a ton of wasted space here again it could have even used some more space if we're being honest but the pace allows this thing to just fly it makes moments like Priscilla graduating high school deep into the film might I add feel like they sneak up on you effectively putting you in this Whirlpool like Rhythm that Priscilla experiences that whole scene is just crazy when you you think about it cuz she's graduating high school in general when we're talking about technicals the film is damn near Flawless the production design is so detailed and lived in you don't doubt any of the sets the muted colors throughout fit cop's aesthetic perfectly I would argue this is also some of the best cinematography I've seen in a Sophia Copa movie some really gorgeous and carefully framed images in here that make you want to rewind and look at them closer and as always her music choices work so seamlessly her use of music has aged beautifully over the years and it's no surprise that it's pretty great in this one it's just a very polished film that looks and sounds exactly how a story like this should muted subtle but very attentive just this last week I finished her filmography a filmography that has fascinated me since the first time I saw Lost in Translation she has such an incomparable and consistent style and when it works it really works and in many ways having seen all of her work Priscilla feels like the character in story her film making was born for a young girl with a crush is roped into a turbulent life of Fame and attention before she knows what she's in for and in the process she has to ReDiscover who she is when the public tries to do that for her it's the kind of character so in line with her past work that I'm surprised this film didn't come out sooner and it turned out pretty great for as muted as Priscilla is compared to baz lurman film the scale of Elvis's power and influence feels drastically more Vivid here and that's what I got to say thanks for watching go watch Priscilla and form your own opinion and I'll see you in the next [Music] one [Music] w

Channel: Karsten Runquist

Views: 390,738

Keywords: Priscilla, Sofia Copolla, Jacob Elordi, cailee spaeny, A24, Elvis, Priscilla Presley, Movie, Music, Filmmaking, Movies, Baz Luhrman, Austin Butler, Tom Hanks, Review, Ending, Clip, Scene, Explained, Analysis, Arthouse, Video Essay, Oscars, Dark, Disturbing, Theory, Karsten Runquist, Euphoria, 2023

Id: kVr8FI7rq4E

Length: 7min 44sec (464 seconds)

Published: Tue Nov 07 2023