Elvis. His Truth Is Marching On

ELVIS

Bazmark Films 2022

How you exit a film often defines what the experience was like. When I was a child, leaving a Rocky movie, I was hyped and wanted to take on the world. I left the Elvis movie in tears. I sat and listened to "In The Ghetto" and let the crowd leave. I was lifting my jumper up to my face in case anyone saw the teardrops when the lights went up. 

I didn’t talk for an hour afterwards. I was choked up with a wealth of emotions hitting me. I felt pride that the magic of The King was told so beautifully for a new generation. I felt sadness at the loss of a great man. And, I felt thanks for his gift which quite frankly has been the one medicine and happy place in a life plagued with illness. 

I loved the direction and cinematography. It was a hit on all your senses just like The King itself. I’ve never seen an impersonator. It’s a 100 percent Elvis with me or nothing. So for me to embrace the film on such a scale tells a story. The audience approval rating right now on Rotten Tomatoes is 93 %. 

Astounding. 

In a sense, Austin Butler almost channels Elvis as his daughter Lisa Marie said. It’s a cinematic tour de force of acting. One of the most important things this film does is humanise Elvis. As the man once said "Cut me and I bleed".

The man, whether you liked him or not was one of the most charismatic beings ever to grace the planet. "Before Elvis there was nothing", said John Lennon. Before anyone did anything, Elvis did everything. 

In Elvis, Every minuscule detail was recreated in the most realistic form. From the jumpsuits, to the Vegas stage, to the most famous musical tv special in history,  NBC's 1968 Comeback Special. 

Yes, there was artistic license but that’s to be expected in films. As in the biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody, Freddie Mercury never told Queen he had Aids before Live Aid and those decisions are made for time constraints and the filmmakers vision. 

Elvis's decline was dealt with respectfully. It wasn’t tawdry and it wasn’t tacky. That should be par for the course in life but for far too long Elvis has been turned into a caricature and his demise mocked. He’s become the butt of jokes. Nobody’s failings or tragic death should ever be used for a cheap shot. 

This is a film that’s imperative you see on a big screen. I can’t emphasise that strongly enough. I’ve held off going to hospital for weeks in case they wouldn’t let me out to see it. I go up Tuesday. I travel now knowing Elvis and his legacy is in a good place. 

The cherry on top of the cake was the ending. I won’t spoil it for you but it was magical. A tearjerker. If you thought Bohemian Rhapsody did a good job in telling the story of Queen, which it did, this knocks it out of the park in quality terms. And that’s not me saying that. That’s the critics. Elvis thought he would be forgotten. How wrong he was. His Truth Is Marching On.

-written by Trevor O'Sullivan 

About 8 years ago I set up a Facebook network called His Truth Is Marching On. That was the title of my thesis which got 1st class honours. Through group and page we have 166,000 members.