Later in the documentary, the bike has turned into a tail-finned gleaming Cadillac cruising through those same green fields. There are also repeating visual motifs, used in transitions: a boy riding his bicycle through rich green Southern fields, seen from high above. This abolishes the dreaded "talking head" format, giving us space to engage with the images and flow of words. Zimny, brought onto the project on the strength of the many documentaries he's done on Bruce Springsteen, made a couple of very important choices in "The Searcher." He does not show the faces of the many subjects interviewed. He wanted to evolve." "The Searcher"-with its eloquent title-attempts to contextualize that lifelong process. Priscilla Presley observes, " wanted to grow. In collaboration with Priscilla Presley and Jerry Schilling, Presley's friend from childhood, Zimny is interested in the spiritual and artistic forces which drove Presley from poverty to the heights of American success. Lost in all of it is why people talk about Presley in the first place: his music and what it expressed. In a way, what Zimny has done is chop away the jungle of gossip surrounding Presley: cars, women, peanut butter and banana sandwiches, karate, speed/opiate addiction, uncircumcised penis (sneered at by Albert Goldman in his appalling 1981 biography). Produced with the full cooperation of Presley's estate (Graceland opened its archives for the project), director Thom Zimny, along with writer Alan Light, shaped a narrative out of a vast amount of archival footage (home movies, press conferences, still photographs, movie and concert clips). What is so refreshing-damn near redeeming-about HBO's two-part documentary "Elvis Presley: The Searcher," premiering on HBO on April 14, is that the entry point is Presley's art. It's very hard to live up to an image." The image of Elvis shifts, depending on the entry point. Elvis, in a sky-blue suit with a jangling shiny belt, sideburns bristling down his face, replied, "The image is one thing. In the press conference he gave before his Madison Square Garden concerts in 1972, he was asked if he was satisfied with his public image. This process occurred while Elvis Presley was still alive, since he became so famous so fast. The image of the performer is almost completely detached from the details of what the career was actually about. Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, and Judy Garland are all on this pretty short list. Only a few figures have achieved such gigantic posthumous fame. I'm afraid to wake up, afraid it's all been a dream." - Elvis Presley, 1956Įlvis Presley's image is so omnipresent in the culture it's like a Coca-Cola logo on a billboard in Times Square.
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