Priscilla

I was so excited to be back at the Broadway last night to see Priscilla because I am a huge fan of Sofia Coppola and I have been anticipating it ever since Cailee Spaeny won the Volpi Cup at the Venice FIlm Festival for her performance.  It is a fascinating if melancholy coming of age story that initially left me a bit disappointed but, the more I think about it, the more I appreciate it.  Priscilla Beaulieu (Spaeny) is a shy and lonely teenager living in West Germany, where her father is stationed, when she is invited to a party and meets Elvis Presley (Jacob Elordi), who is doing his military service.  She comforts him over the recent death of his mother and they bond over their shared homesickness for the U.S.  Despite the objections of her worried parents, she is soon spending all of her free time with him and grows despondent when he is discharged from the Army.  She eventually visits and then moves into Graceland where she is completely controlled, manipulated, isolated, and ignored by Elvis.  She becomes a wife and mother before she finally finds the courage to create a life for herself.  This reminded me, beat for beat, of Marie Antoinette and that is both a good thing and a bad thing.  The compelling story is similar in that a young and naive girl is thrust into a situation for which she is completely unprepared, is forced to mold herself into someone else's ideal, and is not allowed to have a voice while living in a rarefied environment of luxury.  The gorgeous production design is also similar in that it brilliantly immerses the audience into a different time and place while including anachronistic music to create a vibe (my favorite is the use of "Crimson and Clover").  Unfortunately, it also feels like an insubstantial bit of spectacle because the protagonist still feels like a mystery when all is said and done and this left me wanting to know more about who she really was.  However, upon reflection I think that is actually the point because Priscilla didn't really have an identity while she was with Elvis.  Spaeny gives an incredible performance, literally transforming from a child to a young woman right before our eyes.  She is able to communicate so many emotions with just a glance or one word of dialogue and it always appears that she has so much more to say.  Elordi is unbelievably appealing and charismatic as Elvis and it is easy to see how Priscilla could fall under his spell but he also vividly portrays a darker side to the king of rock and roll so it is understandable why she would leave.  I'm still thinking about this one but I would definitely recommend it.