'A look at the life of the legendary rock and roll star, Elvis Presley. '
'Cate Blanchett, the celebrated Australian actor, has recently received several prestigious awards including the Golden Globe for Best Actress, for playing Lydia Tár, the American genius, lesbian conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic, in Todd Field’s Tár (2022). However, it failed to win any Oscars in 2023, along with Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis (2022). At first glance though there appears to be no basis for comparing the two films on structural aesthetic grounds, I will demonstrate how one might think the two films together in terms of analysing the crafting of a character type or persona in the script and the related choice of styles of acting to embody it. Critically, Tár was largely a success. But Luhrmann’s Elvis was either loved or vehemently loathed by critics in Australia and internationally too.' (Introduction)
'With just six films over thirty years (1992-2022), Baz Luhrmann and his creative and marital partner Catherin Martin have successfully created their globally marketable brand, BAZMARK, from an Australian production base, with major American studio finance and distribution. Critically, their films, including ELVIS, sharply polarize opinion unfailingly, so much so that now one expects it. Certainly, the director does so, sanguinely. ' (Introduction)
'Aussiewood sprinkled its star dust at this year’s 80th Golden Globes with five nominations and a fourth acting win for Cate Blanchett, this time her performance as a renowned German conductor in Todd Field’s Tár.'
'Crafting a biopic is a near-impossible act of curation; of the hundreds of thousands of hours that make up a person’s life, which two and a half will accurately sum up their entire existence? Some recent attempts, like the excellent Steve Jobs (2015) or the Judy Garland biopic Judy (2019), limit their slice of life to a handful of defining moments and allow the viewer to extrapolate from there, essentially opting for quality over quantity – a mantra no one would ever accuse director Baz Luhrmann of adopting.' (Introduction)
'On July 31, 1969, Elvis Presley took to the stage of the International Hotel in Vegas for the first time, still riding the high of his electric 1968 TV special, which had revived his flagging career.' (Introduction)
'The film director has never aimed small – and few figures are bigger than Elvis Presley. By Andy Hazel.'
'A new Baz Luhrmann film caused a stir this year at Cannes – again.'
'Queensland's Gold Coast has rolled out the red carpet to Hollywood's A-listers at the Australian premiere of the new Elvis biopic.'
'Elvis: he's everywhere and nowhere, a mononym as familiar as Coke and a cipher as abstract as the clichés he came to (dis)embody. Both the King of Rock 'n' Roll and a costume party punchline, the man born Elvis Presley left the building an icon, his image now so ubiquitous — and for so long — that it's easy to forget how seismically his appearance ruptured the culture in the 50s.'(Introduction)
