THE BEDAZZLER
BAZ LUHRMANN IS RARELY ONE FOR SUBTLETY, AND WITH ELVIS, HIS OTT AESTHETIC TOOK FLIGHT — GORGEOUSLY
Elvis arrived like a gunshot through a screen. Baz Luhrmann’s biopic was never going to be understated, but the film’s visual decadence was equivalent to a 12-course feast. Catherine Martin’s costume design was all pink lapels and capes — as she has described, “diabolically heavy with jewels”. Let alone a Graceland built in Australia, iced with a line of gleaming vintage cars. For two hours and 39 minutes that somehow didn’t feel like enough, Luhrmann dialled up his trademark visual extravagance to match Elvis Presley’s own swagger.