Movie: EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert

Baz Luhrmann’s latest offering, EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert, offers something for both fans of the legendary music icon and ‘Presley novices’.

The 96-minute movie owes its origins to Luhrmann’s 2022 hit Elvis.

As Luhrmann explains: “During the making of Elvis we went on a search for rumoured unseen footage from the iconic 1970s concert films Elvis: That’s the Way It Is and Elvis on Tour that had reportedly been lost.

“My initial thought was that, if we could find it, we may be able to restore the unused footage and use it in our Elvis feature, starring Austin Butler.

“I had researchers go into the Warner Bros. film vaults buried in underground salt mines in Kansas and, to the astonishment of all, we uncovered 69 boxes (59 hours) of film negative that hadn’t been seen.

“In addition to this, Angie Marchese (VP of Archives and Exhibits, and curator at Graceland) was able to unearth some never-before-seen Super8 from the Graceland Archives.

“It has taken over two years to restore the footage to a quality that it has never been projected at previously.”

Much of the credit for bringing the original footage to a quality suitable for the big screen goes to Peter Jackson and the team at Park Road Post Production who were also responsible for the Beatles Get Back documentary.

It was worth the wait!  Having never been an Elvis fan, the footage helps explain why Elvis was so popular in his time and continues to attract so much attention.  He truly was a charismatic showman on stage and obviously had a great connection with his audience.

For those who are fans the movie features many shots, sequences, interviews and performances they have probably never seen before and which are most likely to reinforce their love of, and fascination with, their hero.

The footage used was collected by large MGM cameras over various nights of Elvis’ Vegas residency in 1970, tour engagements captured in 1972 and recordings from six different Vegas residency shows.

Together, the Vegas and tour footage constitute Elvis’ return to the stage at the height of his career and reinvention as an artist at the start of a new decade.

Footage uncovered by Marchese included 8mm footage of Elvis’ Hawaii “gold jacket” performance.

There are over 70 pieces of music in the film performed by Elvis, either in Vegas or on tour as well as in rehearsals and some classic recordings from his lifelong catalogue.

The film also captures his iconic covers from notable artists such as The Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel, Ray Charles, Dusty Springfield, Bob Dylan, Three Dog Night, Brenda Lee, Edwin Hawkins and The Righteous Brothers.

There are also plenty of chances to hear from the man himself thanks to interviews about his life and his music. It’s also interesting to see his change in appearance over the years.

Amongst the discoveries of a ‘non Elvis fan’ was the fact he never performed outside North America (there were three tours to Canada) and he didn’t like the way he was portrayed in his movies.

According to Luhrmann EPiC’s aim was: “To create a ‘dreamscape, almost like a cinematic poem that sang to you and told you his story in a which you haven’t experienced before as opposed to making a documentary or concert film.”

As a result, EPiC is both colourful, educational and for Elvis fans and non-fans alike a chance to relive and to have an understanding of the work of a true showman.

EPiC opens in Australian cinemas on February 19.

Photo credit: Universal Pictures.