OPINION: Greatest love story of all time
Film Review
By Jorge Espinoza
Social Media Co-Manager
Published Tuesday, April 2, 2024
“You’re losing me to a life of my own,” says the lead character of Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla, Priscilla Presley. Adapted from Priscilla Presley’s memoir Elvis and Me, Coppola gives the audience a look into the tragic romance of a young girl falling out of love with an American rock legend and falling in love with a life of independence.
Social Media Co-Manager
Coppola is known for making films depicting the heartache and loneliness felt by women. However, in Priscilla, this was a 14-year-old girl—at least at the start of the story. The wonder of Priscilla comes from its duality in immersing the audience in the blush-toned, blue-satin and pink-frilled feeling that comes from a teenage girl falling in love, but yet being able to subtly show the dark reality of the relationship.
The movie is filled with an award-winning performance from Cailee Spaeny, who plays Priscilla. She displays the reality of a girl spending a portion of her life perfecting the formula of Elvis’s perception of womanhood. Throughout the film, the audience is able to see Priscilla find herself and witness the growth of a young, star-struck girl into a woman who gains a sense of herself.
The film ends with Dolly Parton’s I Will Always Love You. While watching the ending scene, I could only think of one thing: Priscilla was not saying she would always love you to Elvis, but to the little girl she was leaving in the depths of the kitsch and flamboyant walls of Graceland.
