Priscilla Blu-ray Review
Score: 67
from 2 reviewers
Review Date:
Priscilla offers compelling performances and stunning cinematography, yet feels distant and conventional, with a solid Blu-ray A/V package and intriguing extras.
Disc Release Date
DTS-HD MA
Video: 80
The Blu-ray of 'Priscilla' offers a sumptuous 1080p transfer with an AVC encoded presentation in 1.85:1, capturing both the digital and filmic essence from Arri Alexa 35 cameras and 16mm footage. Despite occasional suboptimal shadow details, the vibrant colors and excellent detail deliver an evocative visual experience.
Audio: 80
Priscilla's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track delivers a subtly immersive experience, skillfully utilizing recreated era-specific music and well-prioritized sound effects to enhance atmospheric depth. While not aggressive, it effectively activates surround channels, ensuring clear dialogue and engaging audio dynamics.
Extra: 26
The Blu-ray extras for "Priscilla" offer a succinct yet insightful dive into the film's creation. "Brushed with Beauty" provides intriguing insights with key interviews, while "The Making of Priscilla" presents a unique, candid behind-the-scenes perspective led by young filmmaker Liv McNeil. The package also includes a theatrical trailer and digital copies, though the features are somewhat limited in scope.
Movie: 61
Priscilla, directed by Sofia Coppola, offers an introspective, subdued exploration of Priscilla Presley's life overshadowed by Elvis, highlighting strong performances and exquisite cinematography, though it remains rather clinical and detached in emotional depth, echoing its source memoir's restrained narrative style.
Video: 80
The Blu-ray presentation of "Priscilla," delivered by Lionsgate Films and A24, is a visual treat that boasts an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio. The film primarily employs Arri Alexa 35 cameras alongside traditional 8mm and 16mm footage, offering a distinct visual palette. The digital 4K DI provides an incredibly sumptuous high-definition presentation that masterfully captures the spirit of the era. Philippe Le Sourd's cinematography achieves a balance between modern digital clarity and nostalgic film texture, evoking the delicate pastel ambiance of the narrative with a subdued, yet evocative color palette.
The visual fidelity of "Priscilla" is largely impressive, with detail levels maintaining excellence throughout most of the presentation. Facial features, makeup, and production design are rendered with rich detail, enhancing the film's vibrant style. The primary color saturation is commendable, providing bright and vivid hues that bring depth to skin tones and other visual elements. While low light sequences occasionally reveal limitations in shadow detail, these are minor fluctuations that rarely detract from the overall quality.
In conclusion, the Blu-ray edition of "Priscilla" presents a finely crafted amalgamation of digital precision and filmic warmth. Even without theatrical viewing, this home video experience showcases the dynamic versatility and artistry embedded within Coppola and Le Sourd's visual execution.
Audio: 80
The Blu-ray audio presentation of "Priscilla" boasts a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track that, while subtle, adds a notably immersive layer to the film experience. Despite the absence of original Elvis music—likely a budgetary decision—the film leverages period-appropriate recreations that come alive in the soundscape. These musical recreations and sound effects are meticulously prioritized, infusing the environment with a sense of time and place while maintaining an effective balance across the surround channels.
The audio mix skillfully utilizes side and rear channels, particularly during lively sequences such as parties or social gatherings, enhancing the cinematic atmosphere with energetic ambient noise. Although not overtly aggressive or overwhelming, the audio experience avoids confining itself to the front or center speakers, ensuring a dynamic engagement throughout. This methodical use of surround sound injects dimension into scenes, making them more enveloping for the viewer.
Dialogue clarity is paramount, and "Priscilla" excels in this regard, presenting spoken word cleanly and without distortion. The track ensures that every line is audible regardless of the scene's complexity or accompanying effects. Optional subtitles in English and Spanish further support accessibility. Overall, the audio presentation, though not extravagant, is proficient and effectively amplifies the nuanced narrative of the film.
Extras: 26
The Blu Ray of "Priscilla" offers bonus features that, while limited in quantity, provide noteworthy insights into the film's creation. The Brushed with Beauty: Creating Priscilla's Story segment, running just over ten minutes, is more substantive than typical EPKs, featuring engaging interviews with director Sofia Coppola, and stars Cailee Spaeny and Jacob Elordi. It delves into casting and storytelling approaches. The Making of Priscilla: A Film by Liv McNeil is a standout, nearly thirty-minute featurette presenting a unique perspective from young filmmaker Liv McNeil. It includes candid on-set footage and interviews with the crew and cast, offering a genuine feel of the production environment. Though sparse, these features effectively enhance understanding of the film’s production process.
Extras included in this disc:
- Brushed with Beauty: Creating Priscilla's Story: Interviews with key personnel exploring casting and storytelling.
- The Making of Priscilla: A Film by Liv McNeil: Behind-the-scenes insights from Liv McNeil, capturing candid footage and crew interactions.
- Theatrical Trailer: The original trailer for the theatrical release.
Movie: 61
In Sofia Coppola's "Priscilla," viewers are treated to an intimate exploration of a lesser-known side of a legendary story, diverging from Baz Luhrmann's extravagant portrayal of the King of Rock and Roll. Coppola focuses on Priscilla Presley, offering a quiet, introspective account of her experiences as she navigates a life both surreal and confining, removed from the frenzied spotlight of Elvis's public persona. Adapted from Priscilla's memoir "Elvis and Me," the film avoids sensationalism, instead opting for reflective storytelling that peels back layers of an iconic courtship often misunderstood or overshadowed by the star's larger-than-life image. The narrative progresses chronologically, with deliberate pacing that allows audiences to digest the complexities of the relationship between Priscilla Beaulieu (played by Cailee Spaeny) and Elvis (portrayed by Jacob Elordi).
Coppola’s film unfolds with a restrained elegance, eschewing embellishments in favor of authenticity, yet it sometimes slips into an overly clinical rendering of its subjects. This approach mirrors Priscilla Presley's own recounting style—clear and unembellished—sticking closely to events, occasionally at the expense of dimensionalizing its characters. Both Spaeny and Elordi deliver commendable performances; Spaeny captures the innocence and confusion of a young girl engulfed by Elvis’s world, while Elordi exudes the physical embodiment and intensity required by portraying Elvis. However, the film struggles to authenticate them as tangible human beings, maintaining a barrier of distance even in moments meant to draw audiences closer.
Despite these critiques, "Priscilla" is a gorgeous production, meticulously recreating the era's aesthetics through details like fashion and interior design. While the film touches on themes of control and identity crisis within Priscilla and Elvis's relationship, these mysterious threads remain largely unexplored. Overall, "Priscilla" offers a restrained and visually sumptuous insight into an iconic romance but does so at the cost of emotional resonance, leaving audiences to ponder over what happens beyond the confines of this chapter in Priscilla's life.
Total: 67
Sophia Coppola's "Priscilla" offers a nuanced yet somewhat conventional exploration of Priscilla Presley's life, balancing artistic direction with technical proficiency. While the screenplay occasionally succumbs to repetition, it compensates through compelling performances that maintain audience engagement. The film's production design and cinematography, achieved under tight budget constraints, deserve commendation for their vivid portrayal of the era. Despite the introspective approach, and occasionally distancing narrative, the film successfully invites viewers into Priscilla’s personal lens, though perhaps without fully unraveling the complexity of her experiences.
From a technical standpoint, the Blu-ray release is robust, presenting an impressive audio-visual performance that showcases the film's aesthetic qualities. Clarity and color depth are effectively rendered, promising an immersive viewing experience. While the supplementary content on the Blu-ray is relatively sparse, the available extras provide engaging insights that enrich the primary narrative. As fans eagerly anticipate a potential 4K release by A24, this edition stands as a commendable representation of the film's technical prowess.
In conclusion, "Priscilla," through its unique perspective, extends an invitation to reflect on the narratives surrounding an iconic duo. Though the storytelling occasionally feels surface-level, it captivates with its powerful visuals and dedication to craftsmanship. The Blu-ray delivers on its promise with a respectable A/V package that warrants Recommendation from both enthusiasts and casual viewers alike.
Blu-ray.com review by Jeffrey KauffmanRead review here
Video: 90
The look of this high definition presentation is often incredibly sumptuous, though it's kind of interesting to note that (as at least alluded to in some of the links offered above), the palette may not...
Audio: 90
A couple of relatively raucous sequences at things like parties or just get togethers can also feature background clamor populating the surround channels....
Extras: 40
The Making of Priscilla: A Film by Liv McNeil (HD; 27:14) is a bit of a "meta" featurette, with some first person aspects concerning young filmmaker Liv McNeil, who was on set during the shoot and interviewed...
Movie: 70
While Luhrmann's film might be considered yet another model of his particular form of excess, Coppola's film is almost deliberately quiet, devoid of any big "Elvis moments" save for a few allusions to...
Total: 70
If the screenplay is perhaps unavoidably repetitive and frequently leaves Priscilla little to do other than be depressed, the performances are compelling and both the production design and cinematography...
High-Def DigestRead review here
Video: 80
Details are terrific letting the image absorb fine facial features while giving all of the makeup work and attention to fashion and production design plenty of focus....
Audio: 80
The film wasn’t allowed to use any of Elvis’ music so Phoenix did recreations of music from the era to give a sense of the period during different phases in Priscilla’s relationship with Elvis....
Extras: 20
At the start of the pile, Brushed With Beauty is a very brief behind-the-scenes look at the making of the film....
Movie: 60
While I appreciated the approach to this film and giving Priscilla Presley a voice beyond being a side character in Elvis’ story, the film itself is frustratingly antiseptic and clinical....
Total: 60
While the focus on Priscilla Presley’s side of the story is appreciated and unique, the film is such a surface observation of events I never felt like I was getting to know and understand these dynamic...
Director: Sofia Coppola
Actors: Cailee Spaeny, Jacob Elordi, Ari Cohen
PlotPriscilla Presley, a young teenager living with her family in West Germany, leads a relatively ordinary life until she meets the charismatic and enigmatic Elvis Presley, who is serving in the army. Their connection sparks in the midst of Elvis's growing fame, and Priscilla is swept off her feet by the glamour and allure surrounding him. This brief encounter sets the stage for an ongoing relationship that deeply impacts her life. As they begin to communicate through letters and intermittent visits, Priscilla's world becomes increasingly intertwined with Elvis’s high-profile existence. The excitement of this whirlwind connection soon gives way to challenges, as she balances the demands of her youth with the pull of love and the pressures associated with being connected to a celebrity.
As their relationship develops, Priscilla faces intense public scrutiny and personal challenges. She confronts the difficulties of maintaining her identity while being thrust into the spotlight. The external pressures of fame and privacy, coupled with Elvis's demanding lifestyle, test her resilience and ability to navigate this complex relationship. The film delves into her perspective, portraying not just the glamorous aspects of her life but also capturing moments of vulnerability and strength. As their lives diverge and converge over the years, Priscilla struggles to reconcile her own desires and dreams with the reality of being part of Elvis's world, ultimately seeking her place and voice amidst the chaos.
Writers: Priscilla Presley, Sandra Harmon, Sofia Coppola
Release Date: 03 Nov 2023
Runtime: 113 min
Rating: R
Country: Italy, United States
Language: English