The Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival, which runs from October 27 to November 5, announced on Monday that this year’s Closing Night film will be Coppola’s film based on the 1985 memoir ‘Elvis and Me’ written by Priscilla Presley and Sandra Harmon.
Priscilla by Sofia Coppola was one of the most anticipated titles premiering at this year’s Venice Film Festival. Buzzy before the fest, the noise around it only turned louder as young women on the street wanted to catch a first glimpse of Australian heartthrob Jacob Elordi as Elvis.
The film stars Cailee Spaeny (Mare of Easttown, Bad Times at the El Royale) as Priscilla, along with Elordi (Euphoria, The Kissing Booth) as Elvis Presley, and Dagmara Dominczyk (Succession, Bottoms, The Lost Daughter).
Everywhere I turned, there was some Italian woman saying to another a variation of the phrase “Priscilla was such an interesting film” or asking someone on the other end of the phone “have you see Jacob Elordi as Elvis in Priscilla?” It was interesting to see the film take off right before my eyes. Coppola is such an understated filmmaker, never tooting her own horn and I found pleasure in the cacophony of women doing the talking for her.
The film Priscilla turned out to be one of those works that you need a few days to digest fully and understand deeply. It is definitely an interesting bookend companion to Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis which should be viewed in the same week, by those who haven’t seen either yet. Luhrmann’s Elvis, played by another sizzling heartthrob, American actor Austin Butler, is an ode to the King of rock-and-roll, and a no holds barred extravaganza of music, costumes and art direction. Elvis never looked so good, even in real life, as what Luhrmann and his winning team make him out to be.
But in Priscilla, the protagonist is really his young bride, and we view the King from her POV. This is her story and in it, he doesn’t come out so grand rockstar and all, rather as a flawed human being, a man whose need for control went side by side with his out of control ascent into the firmament of great musical legends. Whereas Elvis was loud and in your face, Priscilla’s beauty is in the details, in the semi shadows of Coppola’s DoP Philippe Le Sourd and in the quiet performance of Cailee Spaeny, who ended up winning the Coppa Volpi for best actress in Venice.
Anu Rangachar, Head of International Programme at Jio MAMI, said: “In Priscilla, Sofia Coppola’s storytelling is bold in exploration and delicate in expression. Based on a self-expressed story of love, Cailee Spaeny in the titular role, shines like a diamond in this nuanced tale about teenage dreams and toxic love. We are delighted to announce Priscilla as the closing film at the Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival.”
MUBI owns all rights to Priscilla in India, where the film will be coming soon to cinemas across the country via MUBI, in partnership with PVR Inox Pictures. Commenting on the South Asia premiere, Svetlana Naudiyal, Programming Director, Asia, MUBI said, “We are thrilled to continue our long-standing partnership with the prestigious Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival, celebrating our shared love for cinema. Through this collaboration, we are excited to hold the South Asia premiere of Sofia Coppola's acclaimed film Priscilla. The title has received widespread recognition worldwide and is highly anticipated among the India audiences.”
Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival is back with its on-ground edition after three years, complete with a new vision to host the world’s biggest and most prestigious South Asian Film Festival. The festival is focused on building an ecosystem for new cinematic voices, facilitating the exchange of ideas, collaborations, and business opportunities, while bringing the best of world cinema to Mumbai.
