We're Back in Sofia Coppola's World with 'Priscilla'
A (muted) pastel paradise with accents and eyeliner
I hate going more than 3 years without a Sofia Coppola film.
Luckily enough for all of us—me especially—we rarely have to. The Taureaun Coppola (IT IS WORTH SAYING THAT WE SHARE THE SAME SIGN) drops something new every 3-4 years and I love that for me.
She is in my top five directors of all time, joining Desiree Akhavan—who sits firmly and forever at the top—good old Baz, Wes, and the last spot rotates but Nia DaCosta and Peele take turns.
I fell in love with her work during 1999’s The Virgin Suicides. I read the book in a day and then found the movie and fell in love.
The pages came to life for me when I watched it. My reasonings behind loving the book range from the simple to the macabre. A bunch of girls in a suburb of the city I’d grown up in feeling trapped in their family and selves and seeing suicide as the only way out. I connected, and it was Coppola’s filmmaking that catapulted my love of film to another level.
She has a fascination with youth, obsession, and sweetness and in so many of her films, she has managed to explore those expertly. Marie Antoinette, The Bling Ring, The Beguiled, and now—Priscilla.
Priscilla is the story of Elvis and Priscilla’s romance and marriage, with a pinch of Coppola magic. It’s an adaptation of Priscilla Presley’s memoir—Elvis and Me, and she had a pretty dope hand in making the film. Jacob Elordi stars as Elvis while Cailee Spaeny plays our titular role as the winged-eyed babe and icon.
Spaeny is playing Priscilla brilliantly, or what we have been told how she was in her years with Elvis.
From the softspoken girl she was when they met—she was 14 and he was 24—to the woman she began to turn into when they began to date and get married. In the 1 minute and 39 second trailer, we see there is going to be an evolution. She, like many women, finds her voice, or like my mama says “She gets sick and tired of being sick and tired.”
She also won Best Actress at The Venice Film Festival for her role soooooo…think we can safely say she kills it.
Also—is this the year where I begin to fully stan for a white boy actor? ‘cos Mr. Elordi has been taking my breath away! He is going to be amazing in Saltburn and from this trailer he is gonna kill it as Elvis—I won’t compare him to Austin Butler’s depiction of The King BECAUSE I LOVED IT IDCIDCIDC—but it lewks goodt!
The trailer is giving me everything—back story, lovely accents, great sets, incredible looks—and now we just have to wait until November to see where this will fall in my ranking of her films.
Extras:
I just learned about this book today and want it desperately.
Francis Ford Coppola is from Detroit and I just thought you all should remember that.
Coppola wines are actually pretty good and I really wanna try the canned rosé
Keep on spreading the word about my Substack! As I ramp up and get prepared for Sundance 2024 coverage and Newfest I’d love all the eyes on it I can get! I’m going to be giving out some free subscriptions in honour of the Priscilla trailer drop!!
HECK YES! I’m so happy the trailer doesn’t depict just some Lolita fantasy! I love Priscilla as a fashion icon and I love me some Sofia so I cannot wait 😭
The Sofia canned rosé is great! A summer porch staple!