DailyView: Day 295, Movie 418

Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis, a film coming out this year with Tom Hanks, dropped its first trailer today so I felt like a film with Elvis in it would be a nice touch for the DailyView today. However, I have not begun the journey into the King’s movie career because they are, supposedly, not the greatest in cinema history.

Because of my uncertainty, I found a documentary that followed Elvis on a 15-city tour during the summer of 1972. It was a documentary and a concert film mix.

Elvis Presley is one of the most charismatic, yet eccentric characters from real life. However, that does not come through here near as much as some other examples. The film focused more on Elvis’s fans reactions to Elvis and the people behind the scenes with the King than the eccentricities of the singer.

That does not make this a bad film, by any stretch. I enjoyed the film on the strength of the music. It was an interesting collection of songs. There were not a ton of classic Elvis songs, though a few made their appearance. Hearing Elvis do songs such as “Proud Mary” and “Bridge Over Troubled Water” is cool. What was even better was hearing the rehearsals of Elvis and his background singers doing the gospel songs. There were some wonderful singing and beautifully performed.

It is fascinating watching the crowd lose their minds to Elvis, who has seen his better days. Fact was that 5 years after this, Elvis died. The spell that Elvis held over the audience is amazing.

I am looking forward to the Elvis project to see more about the King, but this was a nice evening worth of entertainment.