“A beautiful entertainment made for new generations”, but where the director “turned a lot of corners”. An Elvis impersonator for 27 years, Martin Fontaine had a lackluster appreciation of Baz Luhrmann’s feature film regarding the King he saw last week.
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A great fan of Elvis Presley, Martin Fontaine was waiting with excitement, but also a little apprehension, to see the cinematographic work Elvis, by Baz Luhrman.
Last Thursday, following a performance he gave ofElvis Experience at the Théâtre St-Denis, the singer and regarding twenty of his colleagues from the show were able to attend a private screening of the film organized in the cinema next to the theatre.
When asked what he thought of the film, which was a hit at the box office with more than $263 million raised, Martin Fontaine first replied that the film “is very well done” and that it “really offers a vision of the director” who wanted to reach a younger audience.
« A Disney movie »
“He chose to explain the story to those who don’t know Elvis,” he said. […] The die-hard lovers of Elvis, those of the generation of documentaries or biopics [films biographiques] will perhaps find themselves less there. It looked more like a Disney movie than anything. »
Very meticulous regarding the details surrounding Elvis, Martin Fontaine finds it unfortunate that Baz Luhrmann has left out certain important moments in the King’s life, in particular the relationship he had with his mother and the fact that he wanted to be a recognized actor.
Allocated photo
Austin Butler portrays Elvis on the big screen.
“I don’t think the story is really complete,” he said. I think he cut a lot of corners to make it good entertainment. »
On the side of the positive aspects, Martin Fontaine liked that we tell how much the young Elvis was marked by black American music. “That’s what made him that kind of artist. »
colossal work
He also finds that actor Austin Butler, who plays Elvis, has done “a colossal job”. “He pitched it well. He studied it really well. The performances he does, he copied gesture by gesture. »
On the other hand, he did not understand the accent taken by Tom Hanks for his character of Colonel Parker. ” This has nothing to do ! He’s a con artist who worked in the southern United States. There, it looks like it’s a narration in the Lord of the Rings… »
► The tour Elvis Experience is presented this week at Salle J.-Antonio-Thompson in Trois-Rivières. elvisexperience.com
