" He molded me into his woman . I wore the dress , hairstyle , and makeup of his measured choosing , " Priscilla afterward order of her style in her early relationship with Elvis .
Sofia Coppola’s latest movie, a biopic ofPriscilla PresleystarringCailee SpaenyandJacob Elordi, is out now! Naturally, after viewing a limited screening at 11 a.m. with two other men who also sat alone, I went down quite the Google rabbit hole.
My two cents, as someone who is neither a historian nor a film critic, is that biopics don’t need to go for shot-for-shot likeness to successfully convey the life it’s depicting. This isn’t to say thatPriscillaisn’t loyal to Priscilla’s own retelling of their relationship — the real Priscilla’s story is even quoted in the trailer — but that it is a wholly beautiful and evocative movie that sidesteps the “I could have just read the Wikipedia page” vibe of some other notable biopics.
That being said, for those whose interest in the historical relationship has been piqued, here are some side-by-sides ofPriscillanext to the people themselves:
To begin with, here’s Priscilla as we meet her in the movie at age 14. There aren’t any publicly available photos of Priscilla at this age, but there is this one of her at age 16. It’s worth mentioning that the necklace she wore is re-created in the movie itself.
During their first encounters,Elviswas 24 (I’ve edited this photo of Jacob to be a little brighter, for the purposes of this post). Here’s the real Elvis a year younger than that, when he first started his military service.
Then we have the moment where Elvis left West Germany to return to the US, which was actually captured by photographers.
A crucial point of the movie is when Priscilla, at the behest of Elvis, changes her look to include more eyeliner and darker hair. Here’s the real-life Priscilla in 1963,travelingwith the dog that Elvis bought her.
Of course, we have to mention the wedding itself. The ceremonyhappenedin a suite at theLas VegasAladdin in 1967, followed by a press conference (which is where the enormous cake was).
Ninemonthsto the day after their wedding, Lisa Marie was born. Priscilla was indeed in full glam when she left the hospital in Memphis.
The film also depicts Elvis leaving his family in Graceland to go on tour. While there isn’t an exact reference photo available, it certainly suggests the style the family had in the late ’60s.
Finally, the film also re-creates a photo shoot the couple did in real life (and that Jacobre-createdfor Halloween one year with his ex, Kaia Gerber, who is currently datingElvisactor Austin Butler). It shows both of their style evolutions, as depicted in this other image from 1970.
And that’s all we have, until the movie comes out digitally and I can scrub my way through it!
