An emotional Priscilla Presley reflects on her relationship with Elvis
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Priscilla Presley was reportedly emotional after the film about her relationship with the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll made its debut at the Venice Film Festival, wiping away tears during a seven and a half minute standing ovation, per The Hollywood Reporter.
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Based on Presley’s 1985 memoir “Elvis and Me,” “Priscilla,” directed by Sofia Coppola, premiered Sept. 4 at the Venice Film Festival. The movie explores the couple’s relationship, which began when Elvis was stationed in Germany in 1959. Priscilla Presley was 14 and Elvis was 24.
Presley, 78, addressed the 10-year age gap, stating that Elvis “respected the fact I was only 14 years old,” USA Today reported.
“Even though I was 14, I was actually a little bit older in life — not in numbers,” she said at the film’s premiere. That was the attraction. ... We were more in line in thought, and that was our relationship.
“It was very difficult for my parents to understand that Elvis would be so interested in me and why,” Presley said, per USA Today. “And I really do think because I was more of a listener. Elvis would pour his heart out to me in every way in Germany: his fears, his hopes, the loss of his mother — which he never, ever got over. And I was the person who really, really sat there to listen and to comfort him. That was really our connection.”
Presley noted that the pair remained close even after their divorce, and said that Elvis was “the love of my life,” according to USA Today.
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What is ‘Priscilla’ movie about?
“Priscilla,” which is rated R for drug use and some language, has received high praise. Coming on the heels of Baz Luhrmann’s “Elvis,” “Priscilla” offers viewers another glimpse of his life — this time through the eyes of the singer’s ex-wife.
A review for IndieWire noted that “Priscilla” is a “much needed antidote” to the movie “Elvis,” while Geoffrey Macnab wrote in a review for The Independent that the film will be “uncomfortable viewing for Elvis fans.’”
“‘Priscilla’ may not be one of the better movies that Coppola has ever made ... but it stands apart from the rest of her work as the uniquely sensitive and self-honest portrait of a girl who starts to realize that she may have outgrown her greatest fantasy,” David Ehrlich wrote in his review for IndieWire, noting how the film details Presley’s transformation into “Elvis’ perfect woman.”
“It goes without saying that Elvis doesn’t come off so great in this movie, but ‘Priscilla’ never renders him as a monster, even after he starts throwing chairs and getting into scandals,” Ehrlich wrote. “On the contrary, the film paints him as a (very flawed) real person who’s similarly entombed by the image that’s been created for him.”
In a review for Time magazine titled, “Sofia Coppola’s ‘Priscilla’ is quietly extraordinary,” Stephanie Zacharek wrote that Elvis is portrayed “as a man who floats further and further away from the woman he loves, like an astronaut whose tether has been cut, even though he yearns for closeness and connection. He’s not a bad guy; he’s just a mess. And in this story, he’s just an accessory to the heroine. It’s not his story.”
When does ‘Priscilla’ hit theaters?
“Priscilla” is scheduled to hit theaters on Oct. 27, the Deseret News reported.
Presley, who is an executive producer for the film, said she was “nervous” about the film’s release.
“I’m so nervous because it’s my life,” she recently told The Hollywood Reporter. “The people who are watching, they’re living it with you, and you hope and pray that they get it. They get your feelings, your hurts, your sensitivity.”
