Guillermo del Toro picks Baz Luhrmann’s ‘Elvis’ as the best film of 2022
With every filmmaker sending out their lists of the top films released this year, many auteurs are expressing immense love and appreciation for one another’s contributions to cinema in 2022. One acclaimed director who succeeded this year but took the time to address other achievements is Guillermo del Toro, who has selected Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis as his personal favourite of the year.
Luhrmann’s film is a spectacle of a biographical musical drama, charting the life and career of the iconic musician Elvis Presley. Austin Butler plays the titular part, with Tom Hanks co-starring as his manager Colonel Tom Parker, who is the focus perspective of the film.
Elvis premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on May 25th, 2022, before experiencing a theatrical release in America on June 24th. Luhrmann’s film was a critical and commercial success, and Elvis grossed $286 million worldwide against its $85 million budget and became the second-highest-grossing music biopic of all time behind Bohemian Rhapsody, released in 2018. Butler’s performance as Presley is the film’s heart, channelling the talent, emotion and conflict that ignites the overall film. In addition, Elvis presents an exhilarating use of music and cinematography, with the two combining to accentuate the overall story material.
According to Variety, del Toro perceived Luhrmann’s work “like a concert”, as expected, considering how the Great Gatsby director balanced the visuals with the score to create a unique example of filmmaking. “It was experiential, peppered with details and perfectly observed mannerisms and hidden clues,” the Pinocchio director added. “Austin Butler and Baz showcase Elvis’ world-shaking, transformative talent, his joy, his soul, his sadness — actor and director working in tandem to re-embrace and re-energise the power and danger that Elvis possessed.” Here, del Toro outlines and emphasises the director and leading man’s efforts when communicating Elvis’s thematics values and commentary on the industry’s exploitative nature. The conflicting joy and sadness Presley experiences in the film at the hands of his challenging and abusive manager embody the complexity and tragedy of the narrative.
“There is incredible control when composing a Baroque piece of cinema like Elvis — incredible control of the tools of audiovisual storytelling: staging, lensing, moving the camera, controlling the cutting rhythms, and using sound design and music with virtuoso precision,” del Toro further explained. “And sustaining that pitch when is needed and being able to ease on the gas or ramp up when it is not.” The Pan’s Labyrinth director is more than familiar with the power of exquisite cinematography, as his portrayals of dark fantasy or paranormal stories exhibit inquisitive camera work to capture his beautiful settings. Elvis demonstrated a brilliant utilisation of the camera, encapsulating both the exterior fame the singer found through his music and performances, as well as the internal psychological state,
Guillermo del Toro also addressed that “the secret element in a Baz film is Baz himself”, implying auteurship and the significance of a director as the main driving and creative force behind the film. Through his beautiful and stylised stories, such as The Great Gatsby and Romeo + Juliet, Luhrmann has cemented himself as one of modern cinema’s most creative auteurs, as he is recognised through his grand and emotionally captivating visuals. “The undomesticated autonomy he has, the unwavering, indefatigable faith and relentless work ethic that has made him a maestro, and in fact, the single purveyor of his style of films,” says del Toro as a further complement to Luhrmann. “The impossible paradox of energy and total control goes hand-in-hand with another one: the fact that by making the most personal body of work, he has reached the universal truth and the soul of filmgoers everywhere.”
He adds: “Against all odds, he believed in and delivered, once more, a film that had audiences returning to theatres after the pandemic. Such is the power and purity of Baz — our only Baz and his belief in Truth, Beauty, Freedom — and, above all else: Love. Love of Cinema, Love of Emotion and Love of Love.”
These statements exemplify del Toro’s acknowledgement and appreciation for Luhrmann as a fellow filmmaker and storyteller. The fantasy filmmaker illustrates how the Elvis director upholds cinema’s ability and status to transcend mediums and combine them, creating a successful contribution to the industry. Elvis was met with some initial doubt due to the singer falling under recent generations’ radars. However, Luhrmann defied these expectations and triggered a new interest in Presley and his work.
Watch how Luhrmann combined cinematography and sound with Butler’s brilliant performance in Elvis below.
