{"id":8510,"date":"2023-11-21T14:18:25","date_gmt":"2023-11-21T14:18:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/?p=8510"},"modified":"2023-11-21T14:41:29","modified_gmt":"2023-11-21T14:41:29","slug":"priscilla-sofia-coppolas-absorbingly-intimate-lonely-girl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/2023\/11\/priscilla-sofia-coppolas-absorbingly-intimate-lonely-girl\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cPriscilla\u201d: Sofia Coppola\u2019s Absorbingly Intimate Lonely Girl"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Everyone knows about Elvis Presley. Whether it is because you learned about his impact on the music industry in history class or because his stardom had a chokehold on you or your grandparents, his story is easily accessible and never forgotten. Sofia Coppola, director of the newly released movie \u201cPriscilla\u201d, shifts the overly common narrative off  Elvis and onto Priscilla Presley, a woman who was overlooked throughout Elvis\u2019 rise to fame and in the aftermath as well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPriscilla\u201d is based on Priscilla Presley\u2019s 1985 \u201cElvis and Me\u201d memoir, a book in which Priscilla recounts her experience of being taken into Elvis\u2019s world at the young age of fourteen. Coppola displays the completely uneven power dynamics of the relationship, while also showing how lonely it is for Priscilla stepping into a life she has no control or agency over (with Cailee Spaeny playing the role of Priscilla and Jacob Elordi playing the role of Elvis). In her films (Marie Antoinette, Lost in Translation, The Virgin Suicides) Coppola usually puts the audience in the \u201cgirl\u2019s shoes\u201d \u2013 a perspective that is routinely pushed to the side or told superficially in a historically male-dominated industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I felt like my role was just to explain her experience and always go through [Priscilla’s] point of view,” Coppola says of the film. “I thought [of] all the things we have to go through as a teenager [that] she was going through while she was living in Graceland with Elvis.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Cailee<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore, the soundtrack is another unforgettable experience throughout the movie. As I sat in my seat at the AMC theater watching Priscilla on the big screen, I couldn\u2019t help but sway along to the fantastic music paired with the classic Coppola aesthetic visuals which are rich in period details. As this film was about Priscilla and not Elvis\u2019s artistry, there are no Elvis songs featured \u2013 leaving more room for the viewer to notice his behavior as a human being and not get caught up in his talent as a famous public figure. The lush soundtrack includes the music of Frankie Avalon, Brenda Lee, The Righteous Brothers, The Soul Stirrers and The Sons of Raphael. The opening credits are paired with a 1980 Ramones cover of Tommy James\u2019 song , \u201cCrimson and Clover\u201d plays later on capturing the couple’s infatuation, and many more of Coppola\u2019s usual anachronistic song selections are trickled in throughout the film.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hair and costume design cannot be overlooked when viewing the film (with Stacey Battat on costume design, who had twice before partnered with Coppola). The evolution of Priscilla\u2019s style demonstrated throughout the film, also showcases Priscilla\u2019s development out of childhood (with more childlike silhouettes); into the height of Elvis\u2019 fame (with big hair, intense eye makeup and more sophisticated clothing, Priscilla essentially becomes a doll for Elvis to design); and finally into her own sense of style (showcased by a 70s inspired straightened look). Battat\u2019s costume design displays not only Priscilla\u2019s evolution from a 14 to 27-year-old, but also plays into the way Elvis used fashion as a way to control her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"A<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Die-hard Elvis fans may not like how Coppola displayed his character. However, his almost satirical behavior at times only reinforces the fact that his fame gave him and his actions leeway that many other people do not get. And, if people do question the historical accuracy of Coppola\u2019s depictions, Priscilla Presley was part of this movie\u2019s journey throughout the entire production time \u2013 she even appeared at the Venice Film Festival when its first appearance on the big screen took place. Coppola even said, “When Priscilla first saw the final movie, the first thing she said was, ‘Cailee really \u2014 that’s how I felt.’ She really expressed that. And she couldn’t believe Jacob’s voice, she said it just sounded just so much like Elvis, so that was so gratifying to hear that from her.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"In<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The end of the film portrays the little autonomy Priscilla had, courageously removing herself from her toxic first love and transformation into adulthood. The final shot showcases her solemnly driving away from the Memphis mansion alone, accompanied by a Dolly Parton tune.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some say the film makes a nice cultural companion piece to \u201cBarbie\u201d from earlier in the year with another expression of female autonomy after a long period of captivity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Everyone knows about Elvis Presley. Whether it is because you learned about his impact on the music industry in history class or because his stardom had a chokehold on you or your grandparents, his story is easily accessible and never forgotten. Sofia Coppola, director of the newly released movie \u201cPriscilla\u201d, shifts the overly common narrative off  Elvis and onto Priscilla Presley, a woman who was overlooked throughout Elvis\u2019 rise to fame and in the aftermath<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":278,"featured_media":8511,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[319,435,318,321],"tags":[],"coauthors":[398],"class_list":["post-8510","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts","category-culture","category-news","category-opinion"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Screenshot-2023-11-21-at-9.17.21\u202fAM-e1700576263852.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8510","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/278"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8510"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8510\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8515,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8510\/revisions\/8515"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8511"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8510"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8510"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8510"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=8510"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}