gtessarini

Whether you are a big fan or someone just starting to learn about Elvis Presley's story, anyone who watches this super production will see facts, reflections and discoveries that are increasingly surprising when we think about the artist's masterpieces, his humanization, personal trajectory, his feelings and their impact on the American entertainment industry (which spread throughout the world).

More than that. Anyone who watches this documentary will see how the man's life was partly shaped and even impacted (both positively and negatively) by the captains of industry, and how the paths of Elvis and even society could have been different and more lasting if it weren't for the evil greed of others.

When I first read the title, I was displeased with the fact that it insinuated that there was in fact a "fall" of Elvis Presley, since to this day his works and actions are admired and arouse strong emotions and projects all over the world. But if you read it carefully, you'll notice that the "rise" comes after the "fall", showing how he recovered from difficult times and continues to rise in music, movies, art, fashion, business and society.

A beautiful, true documentary, with fans, historians, colleagues and relatives who really lived with him and know what happened at the time, as well as artists and professionals today who know how he must have felt, with the empathy that only those who live in the same environment know how this business works.

Even as a "documentary" with sincere and exciting facts, the production brings action, suspense, lots of energy and intimate views on different moments in the life of the King of Rock, from before he won this title, to the phase of one of his greatest artistic achievements, known as the '68 Comeback Special show (the first musical acoustic recorded and televised) that changed many trajectories, both in Elvis's life and in the lives of several other artists and the public.

Those who know the story may feel like something is missing at the end, since even after the shocking ending of the 1968 show (which is the focus of the documentary), Elvis actually continued his career with another 9 years full of innovations and stardom in his Las Vegas phase, show circuits all over the US, new successful films, the first show broadcast via satellite to the entire world and other artistic and personal changes of great value.

Since the king's life was relatively short, but full of such great achievements compared to the short time he was physically with the public, there really wouldn't be enough space in this particular production to show all the rest of it. There are already other works that talk about these other complex and spectacular moments.

But whether or not this rest of his life is present in this documentary, what anyone can feel after watching the work, as after listening to any album or watching any other show by the great Elvis Presley, is that good feeling of "I want more".

Elvis (2022), luxuriously written, produced and directed by Baz Lurhmann, cannot be described as a normal Elvis Presley biopic. Creating a film about the life of a singer, actor, showman and entertainer so revolutionary and socially engaged as Elvis could not be done in a normal way, so as than Elvis' life was not a normal life.

The Hero's Journey, established by Joseph Campbell, famous writer and myth scholar, is a standard sequence of steps and ways of telling a story that has been adopted in fantastic productions for decades.

The sagas Star Wars, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings and the first solo films of the superheroes of the Marvel empire were the main representations of millionaire revenues built from this "magic rule" until Baz Lurhmann's Elvis was released in theaters.

A fan of superheroes from old comics as a child, the story about Elvis Presley is told in the newest film about his life in a way heavily inspired by that interest.

Elvis is not a biopic, it is not a film about the history of music or even American culture, but a superhero story that permeates these subjects.

The thing is, unlike many comics, the movie's story actually happened - at least 99% of the time. In the 2 hours and 40 minutes of film we are introduced to the "ordinary world" of the would-be hero, the "call to adventure" he receives, the refusal, the trials and all the steps of the standard and almost worn out model of the Hero's Journey of tell stories. However, even in this we have some innovations.

Told not from an omniscient point of view, nor from Elvis' own point of view, nor even in an entirely linear way, the work is narrated from the perspective of the character who is the hero's wise mentor and at the same time the cunning villain, his businessman, Colonel Tom Parker, played by Tom Hanks.

Characterized with a lot of makeup and several prosthetics, Hanks, playing the role of the businessman seen on screen, acts with a mischievousness felt just by looking into his eyes.

Exposing and captivating the public with facts about the life of his "protected boy" and the source of his parasitic exploitation of income, the Colonel alters the order of the stages of this famous Hero's Journey by treating it as a mea culpa and an attempt to justify his manipulations on what can be called his long deathbed.

The main historical facts about Elvis and the beginning of his life together with his family are presented clearly, but the whole work is based on the moment that the Colonel, the narrator, meets the promising young artist.

Chaydon Jay plays the artist's impoverished childhood version. Although with a brief participation in the feature, the young man strategically and energetically conveys his performance as a young Elvis in the initial phase of the formation of his religious worship for the black music of the southern United States, where the singer was raised, and his passion radical for religion.

As a scene of famous religious ceremonies in the South of the USA very well demonstrated, the young Elvis (Chaydon) really does seem to have the "spirit in him". Whether the holy spirit or even that of his twin brother who was stillborn, which is why Elvis always seemed to have the strength of 2 men in his soul, according to his mother, something very powerful was part of the young man's being, and the film presents this very well from the beginning.

This religiosity that Elvis grew up with and always used to recover after difficult moments in life, is passed on to the true King of this film, Austin Butler, who embodies the King of Rock and brings Baz Luhrmann's work to life.

The American actor accepts and gives himself completely to the job of masterfully interpreting nearly 30 years of Elvis Presley's career and life. Impressing with the incredible vocal work and convincing that it was Elvis in person with the body work, Austin seems to have been possessed by the spirit of the King as he recorded the film full of dances, swaying, karate moves and gestures to perform the spectacular performances.

Bringing us drama, excitement, anger and charisma, the boy's charming performance in the moments on stage and in the development of the character in the "ordinary world" of the feature, convey and allow us to feel the same emotions that appear on the scene.

Running from the 50s to the 70s, Austin shows Elvis as an innocent, humble and shy young man - but with a flamboyant style - to the rebellious icon full of sex appeal who literally transformed the way of performing live and on TV in the United States. USA, in addition to Elvis gospel and country.

As the movie demonstrates, Elvis in the 50's already started to inspire artists of the time - and artists that we still have emerging today - as well as displacing a handful of other artists who settled in the way of giving presentations. The young man turned monotonous music sessions into truly unprecedented spectacles, coming into conflict with politicians, the police, the parents of young people at the time and racial segregationists.

The artist was born and raised in an environment that was so natural to Elvis, but that was discriminated against by traditional white society. With black music legends B. B. King (Kelvin Harrison), Arthur 'Big Boy' Crudup (Gary Clark Jr.), Big Mama Thornton (Shonka Dukureh), Little Richard (Alton Mason) and Sister Rosetta Tharpe (Yola), the film still includes the historical facts related to Martin Luther King Jr. And the assassination of Senator Robert Kennedy as a great stimulus in the formation, rhythm, emotions and decisions of the King.

Demonstrating through warm scenes the social, racial and cultural context of the USA, we see how these and other factors have always been part of the concerns and influences on Elvis, as well as receiving tremendous influences from his works, designed to raise public awareness.

In the first quarter of the film, until a small percentage of the next, the plot runs at a frantic pace and with almost no pause for breath at certain points. Condensing with glamor and historical facts the various years of Elvis' early life and right from the moment he met Colonel Tom Parker, the narrator of the work, there are few moments to reflect on what is cut and displayed on the screen.

The facts of this passage emerge at a rythm enough to entertain and even learn, but they almost overwhelm the audience's attention with the story, the excellent music and all the brilliance present in it.

Soon after these moments, we can enjoy a more fluid rhythm, being able to feel the artist's strong emotions and achievements, understand the results of his trajectory, in the same way that we continue to appreciate the excellent scene montages, photography, costumes and sound mixing present during all the energy and synergy of the film, from the opening style to the end credits.

Featuring original songs and other edited songs by Elvis, as well as a dozen productions by contemporary artists such as Doja Cat, Eminem, the band Måneskin, Diplo and Swae Lee, as well as Austin Butler's own voice, the film proves the impact and quality of the King's songs sung by these figures in the same intensity as the unpublished songs created by them in a way inspired by their work.

Elvis is a truly deified figure. In the movie and in real life, Captain Marvel Jr and Superman would not receive as much acclaim as Elvis Presley has already received from audiences that crossed the line of show and became religious worship with a strong and incongruous sex appeal.

Those who don't know the story of Elvis, receive enough information and fun to say they are well-educated at the beginning, prepared for what comes in the following scenes and instigated to seek more complementary details about the King after the end of the film - the production it's about a man who lived 42 years. It is not possible to present exactly everything on stage.

Who is a fan of the King of Rock, famous that never left the mouths and ears of the people, maybe you can be nostalgic for 2 or 3 details that are important in the King's career as a little more about his time in the army, where he came to becoming a sergeant for his hard work, his more than 31 feature films, his spectacular worldwide performance at Aloha from Hawaii, the world's first satellite show - invented just for Elvis at the will (and legal self-preservation) of his manager.

All these facts are presented in the film. In fact, some of them are the reason for great self-promotion by the Colonel, who brags about these feats in his narrative, but seeing them in more screen time would also serve for the self-promotion of the public itself, which extols these facts about their transcendental idol.

Even so, everything that the film shows doubles and with great quality the few details that it doesn't show so comprehensively. From the manager's point of view, the artist was rarely seen as a real person, but he was always the attraction of a show that should never stop and that should be explored to the fullest. The greatest show on Earth - for many years the most profitable on Earth.

The final stages of the journey are marked by conflicts between the hero, Elvis, and his manipulative villain, the businessman. In the same way, we have conflicts between Elvis and those close to him, as well as between Elvis and himself, intoxicated, confused and depressed with the directions his innovative life had taken in recent years.

Elvis Presley, may not have realized how well executed it was. His quest for eternity, at least in terms of his career. More than 40 years after his "death", after several other successful works about his life, Elvis 2022 is more recent proof of that his hero's journey did not end like many others, not coming to end, but reaching to eternity with this magnificent artwork from Baz Lurhmann.

Starring Mel Gibson, this Christmas production is not in the same genre of films that we watch with children at the end of the year.

With an indicative rating from the age of 16, Fatman brings a fanciful and hopeful narrative of Santa Claus, the good old man with a white beard who brings us gifts and the joy of Christmas, in a more realistic and embittered situation.

Situated in the real world, where Santa Claus needs to seek new commercial partnerships with the American army to save his operation from bankruptcy, the mythical and magical figure tries to maintain persistence in the increasingly disappointing and scarce, Christmas spirit, as he struggles and gun to the teeth.

It would be difficult to imagine a story in which Santa Claus, a practically omniscient and immortal man, as well as his wife and elves, could walk the streets, go to the bar, maintain his wedding and pay as bills from his toy factory as a being real human. Fatman can manage to bring this narrative in a very elaborate way thinking of the realistic air of the story.

This fantasy picture that links comedy and action has no super jokes or sketches designed to be explicitly informed, but it is able to hold your attention in a very interesting way. Imagining the serious, plausible explanations and techniques in a subtle and objective way for the existence of all this fable, the film generates a good dose of humor and curiosity.

With subtlety in presenting this magical figure hidden in the form of a common businessman, with many years of marriage and that practice shooting and crossfit, this movie conveys empathy with the good old man - strong as hell -, discredited in human kindness and Christmas, as well as that of a bankrupt businessman after trying to pursue the famous "American dream".

Bluntly, arcs of redemption or even great moral lessons, Fatman captivates with curiosity, the air of comedy it involves, and the action and shooting scenes with the villain of the film, played by Walton Goggins, an assassin cold, calculating and distressed with Santa Claus, as well as the sulky child who hires him to kill him.

It is not ideal to have very young children in the room when watching this movie, but the production's Rambo style makes it fun to watch at various times of the year.