EPiC is an acronym for Elvis Presley in Concert. That’s pretty cool Baz Luhrmann! Now you may recall that Baz Luhrmann directed an eponymous narrative film, Elvis, in 2022. As for me, it was forgettable. However EPiC will not face that same fate. Maybe it takes an Aussie director, or simply anyone from any other country, to tell us something that we all can’t see clearly: Elvis was great.
Some people may always have known this, but to a lot of us, it’s a revelation. And EPiC is really a celebration of someone who wanted more and gave absolutely everything to be himself and to entertain. What I learned most from this film was that Elvis was a funny person, with a real sense of humor. And maybe in an ironic way, he was probably most naturally himself when performing on stage.
The film is peppered with several hard hitting interviews. And it’s telling because Elvis reveals things to these reporters that expresses a desire to be taken seriously, almost an anguish or a hope. It’s mind-boggling that someone so successful could feel that he had so much more to prove. But it’s obvious that he felt that he did.
Ultimately, no matter what you may think of Elvis falls by the wayside once he starts singing and dancing. It’s almost trancelike for him and the audience. And I think it’s right there in the music where Elvis is able to knock down the boundaries and really connect with people. He’s not the King of Rock ’n’ Roll for nothing.
EPiC covers Elvis’ 1970s residency at the Las Vegas International Hotel. He played 636 consecutive shows there over a seven year period. Today the hotel is called the Westgate Resort. There’s an iconic statue to Elvis in the lobby that I enjoy visiting any time I stay there or am in the neighborhood. It’s not just fun for a selfie I can send to D — which I do! — but it sort of encapsulates that moment in time when Vegas was that wild rollicking place. EPiC captures parts of that moment as well.
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