Director: Baz Luhrmann
Cast: Elvis Presley
97 mins. Rated PG-13 for smoking and some language.

When director Baz Luhrmann (The Great Gatsby) premiered Elvis just a few years, I was blown away by the sugar-coated rush of images, a crystal clear picture of the director’s love for the King. During that time, he uncovered a treasure trove of unseen footage from Presley, through numerous live recordings, rehearsals, and interviews, and now he’s partnered with NEON to release EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert. I hadn’t quite considered what a Baz Luhrmann-directed documentary would look or feel like, but it explodes off the screen and causes a sensory hangover all the same.

With a quick and all-consuming prologue covering Elvis Presley’s rise to fame, war time, and return to civilian life, EPiC quickly mashes together footage from several sources, including his Vegas residency, interview clips, and oftentimes mixing together several variations of performances of songs from different times and locales in an effort to jam as many moments in his life as possible.

The concert documentary is certifiably Luhrmann, and no one else could have seen the mounds of footage and organized them in the same way that this frenetic and sugar-coated filmmaker did. The stylistic flashes and juxtaposed imagery run faster than tickertape. This style is somewhat at odds with the substance, or perhaps new substance, that would be offered to longtime fans that are, without a doubt, the target audience here. I’m not sure how much new information or insight can be gleaned from EPiC, which may disappoint some, but for a man so well documented both in his life and in the decades that followed his passing, I’m not sure there is much else to learn.

When you get past the light amount of information and substance on display in EPiC, it probably wasn’t necessary to spend that much time on his background because when the narrative moves past that into the organized footage, it becomes a wholly unique experience for Presley and his personality and spirit that made him so beloved. Simple moments like hearing Elvis sing “Yesterday” and other Beatles hits, hearing them filtered through his deep voiced-serenade, become instantly become worthwhile memories, unforgettable vantage points, lenses into his life. After awhile, the juxtaposition and layering of the musical numbers spread across time almost create a mesmeric effect, as if it was being recorded live right now in this moment, like the performance was given directly for the viewer sitting in the IMAX theater. Nowhere is this more apparent than the performance(s) of “Polk Salad Annie” which combines just all the unearthed footage of his performance and montages together the rehearsals, practice, crowd work, joking around, and final versions into a uniquely-transmitted experience of a song that I previously hadn’t given much though to. EPiC recontextualizes these moments into a pure feat of editing and visual storytelling all squeezed through the traditional lens of concert filmmaking.

I love the idea of discovered footage, concert films lost to time but unearthed, like 2018’s Amazing Grace or 2021’s Summer of Soul. It’s like looking through time at something you were unable to glimpse. In that respect, EPiC is worth the price of admission, especially if you get the chance to see it in IMAX and be immersed in the music and the time period. The music and Baz Luhrmann’s souped-up visual depiction create a unique experience unlike just about any other concert film. In that respect, the extended prologue is largely unnecessary, even with the visual component. For those wanting new information or insight into the man/myth/legend that is Elvis Presley, I don’t think you’ll find it here, but the experience of seeing Presley’s music this way is well-worth my recommendation.

4/5
-Kyle A. Goethe