'Elvis': Baz Luhrmann's film review at Cannes 2022: Austin Butler and Tom Hank
This biopic of the King of Rock and Roll tells the story of his life and career through the eyes of the financial abuser who controlled him.
Whether you like Baz Luhrmann's Elvis will largely depend on how you feel about his trademark brash, glitter-bomb maximalism.
There is just a bit of hyper-caffeinated establishing in the film
even before Austin Butler’s locomotive hips start doing their herky-jerky thing
when Elvis Presley performs “Heartbreak Hotel” in a pink rockabilly suit
which leaves you dizzy with its explosion of color, split screen, retro graphics, and edits per scene
Add in the stratified, ear-bursting sound design and this is Baz tenfold.
At every turn, Luhrmann's taste for theatrical spectacle is evident, resulting in high melodrama as well as theatrical artifices and vigorous performances.