We talk to director Baz Luhrmann and the cast of Elvis about giving the film a modern sound.
Anyone who grew up on the soundtracks to those two breakout films knows this innately.
But Luhrmann never does what’s expected.
Austin Butler in Baz Luhrmann’s ‘Elvis.'.Warner Bros. Pictures
Why did Luhrmann infuse the film with modern artists and hip-hop beats?
“He coined the term Jazz Age.Jay-Zand I realized that the translation of jazz must be hip-hop.
We were translating not only what it was, but what it felt like.”
Warner Bros. Pictures
“How are young people going to understand what it felt like when Elvis was first performing?
People hadn’t seen something like this on stage, especially on television.
It started to tear off the chains of society at that time.
We wanted to have the audience feel that.”
King and Little Richard and Rosetta Tharpe.
That made it new, but also paid homage to where it all originated from."
She describes Luhrmann’s use of music as akin to being “in a mind palace.”
This ethos and reliance on music flowed through the set during production.
The moment plays like punk.
“That one I got to basically create from scratch,” the actor recalls.
“Because we didn’t have any actual footage of that concert.
With the help of Baz, we could create this performance that was Elvis the rebel.”
It felt like they were watching a punk-rock performance.
That’s how shocking it was.
Elsewhere, Luhrmann describes another moment on set where the music made the sequence work.
They were filming a night scene set on Memphis’s Beale Street where Elvis goes to visit B.B.
King (Kelvin Harrison Jr.), and something was not clicking.
So he asked one of his crew to blastKanye West’s"Black Skinhead" across the set.
It feels like ‘Black Skinhead’ by Kanye West."
Harrison, who portrays B.B.
King, remembers that moment making him come alive.
Now I can actually act,'" he laughs.
“Because otherwise, I was just like, ‘Well this is stale.’
Still, Luhrmann didn’t want to overwhelm Presley’s music and legacy.
Elvishits theaters June 24.
