In defence of Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis: mythologising musicians

At the time of Elvis’ release in 2022, the music biopic genre was widely considered stale and uninteresting. With the release of Bohemian Rhapsody (2018), despite critical and commercial success, audiences became far more aware of the genre as exploitative and cynical, even if these films still continued to perform at the box office.   

Inevitably, Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis bears the weight of this broader cultural conversation: in the way biopics are structured, and the way they mythologise the lives of musicians. Certainly, Elvis’ success too is reliant upon a pre-built fanbase, and in the age of MCU, IP-driven cinema, the music biopic has become emblematic of Hollywood’s lack of originality. Nevertheless, Elvis still deserves credit where credit is due because, not only is it a very good film, albeit with some problems, it is also representative of what a music biopic should be.  

The Persona:

The most notable aspect of Luhrmann’s film is evidently Austin Butler’s star turn as Elvis; his clear commitment to the role, as well as his ability to replicate Elvis’ mannerisms, seemingly transcends the obvious problem of imitation that many biopics suffer from. Whilst Butler gives a great performance, Luhrmann’s role deserves equal attention.  Though following a typical ‘cradle to grave’ structure, the use of a framing device through Colonel Tom Parker not only sets up an actual focus for the biopic in the relationship between the two (something which is sorely lacking in biopics), but more importantly presents Elvis from without.  

Luhrmann can explore Elvis’ role as a musician in this wider landscape

Seeing Elvis through the eyes of another, especially the man who created his musical persona, is a clever way of articulating the cultural impact he had as an artist. Moreover, by making the focus of the film the relationship between Elvis and Parker, Luhrmann can explore Elvis’ role as a musician in this wider landscape whilst also adding an emotional drive to the narrative. In short, the focus remains not only on the artist but his impact on others.  

The Music:

Ironically, music biopics often struggle to use music to the right effect. The typical route plays like a greatest hits album whilst the likes of Rocketman (2019) and Better Man (2024) use their respective music to function as classic musical numbers which indeed helps to integrate the music into the narrative. Luhrmann’s usage of Elvis’ hits straddles a weird middle ground between these two positions.  

Within the film, we’re given a typical mix of montage and performance, although with notable exceptions. The mixing of several Elvis songs with modern pop hits is done to mixed effect; the use of a Doja Cat reworking of ‘Hound Dog’ is as weird as it sounds on paper, but other examples are less egregious. Significantly, this is a creative way of approaching Elvis from a modern perspective while also commenting on the very nature of pop music itself, tying the 1950s to the 2020s.

This more expressionistic approach places far more emphasis on the music, as a musical number does, like in Rocketman

That said, the more ‘conventional’ uses of music here also aren’t radically different to other biopics. Anyone familiar with Baz Luhrmann’s other work will recognise his maximalist, oftentimes absurd style, which elevates the usage of music in montage and performance by integrating it into a more complete expression of Elvis’ stardom as it related to his audience and more broadly, in how it ‘felt’ within the historical moment. This more expressionistic approach places far more emphasis on the music, as a musical number does, like in Rocketman.  

The Problems:

Even so, like in any Baz Luhrmann film, the style is definitely an acquired taste, and more so here, the absurdity can become quite grating. For instance, Tom Hank’s performance as Colonel Tom Parker is even more over the top than the film warrants, which becomes an issue when the entire story of the film is his destructive relationship with Elvis. Moreover, Butler’s performance is not entirely immune. Not that it’s his fault, but sometimes the narrative tackles certain parts of his life in a really odd manner, his reaction to the civil rights movement and Martin Luther King’s death in particular.  

Then there’s the pacing, which is certainly severe. With the constant exaggerated performances and over-the-top direction, by the end, like Elvis himself, it can leave the audience feeling burnt out by the whole process.  

All this is to say that Luhrmann’s Elvis is more of a hot mess than anything. However, as a music biopic, it still entirely works. Despite being situated within a tired and predictable genre, its prioritisation of the music, the artist, and the impact does justice to Elvis’ memory.