EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert – Film Review
by Frank L.

Director Baz Luhrmann
Stars – Elvis Presley

Luhrmann (Moulin Rouge, 2001) has a deep fascination with Elvis Presley, as he has already created a biopic of Elvis Presley in 2022. During the creation of that film, he became aware of “lost” archival footage, which included performances of Elvis’s time in Las Vegas. It is this footage which Luhrmann uses primarily to create this homage to the King of Rock and Roll. Apparently, some of the footage came without sound, but Luhrmann’s cutting room skills have combined to make a splendid, pulsating vision of Elvis in rhinestone-laden jumpsuits with macho side-burns. Elvis appears in all his pomp, doing what he did best – being on stage and performing to an audience. Elvis is alive and well, on the silver screen at least.

It lasts approximately an hour and a half, and it is indeed Elvis in Concert. There is not only him on the stage, but also there are many shots which scan his rapturous audience. They are transported – tears of joy are to be seen. Apart from his own well-known hits, he sings songs by Dylan and the Beatles and even gospel. Luhrmann has some footage from his early years, but he concentrates on the newly discovered material from Las Vegas and, in particular, the performances on stage and the rehearsals. There are only brief references to his wife and baby daughter, and the dominant news story of the Vietnam War. The important figure of Colonel Tom Parker is barely to be seen.

Luhrmann, with his own skills, has created a film which pulsates with the showman skills of Elvis.  The footage, which he unearthed, cannot have been in great condition, but it has all been reconfigured into a fine trip down memory lane. The number of individuals who saw Elvis live must now be relatively small, but Elvis Presley in Concert allows the rest of us to experience what we missed and, more importantly, allows a younger generation to have some idea of what an immense presence Elvis was and, in many ways, still is.