Still life – Style

“Kommersant Style” talks about the new film “Priscilla” and how you can try to convey a person’s personal story through clothes and makeup.

After the release of the film “Elvis” by Baz Luhrmann, which launched the career of actor Austin Butler, it would be logical to wait for the continuation of the story of the great singer, but from a different angle. A new version of Elvis Presley’s life was not long in coming. Narrated by director Sofia Coppolla, it turned out to be more feminine, emotional and not at all as glamorous as one might expect. “Priscilla” was released this fall and immediately made people talk about it.

The film is based on Priscilla Presley’s memoir, Elvis and Me, which she wrote in 1985. However, Coppola wrote the script and reworked them in her own way so that the heroine’s daughter was unhappy with this interpretation. “My father comes across as a predator and a manipulator,” Lisa Marie Presley said in an interview. Be that as it may, Priscilla’s story turned out to be exciting and very instructive, and Priscilla herself did not object to the way Coppola placed the accents in the film, and even sobbed with emotion at the premiere at the Venice Film Festival, where she went as part of the film crew in September of this of the year.

The main idea of ​​the film is the evolution of the personality of a woman who lives in the shadow of a great man, the period of her life from the day she met in 1959 until her divorce in 1972. Essentially, this is the story of a girl growing up who finds herself in the world of fame. Coppola puts the attractiveness of Priscilla Presley (played by Cailee Spaeny) at the forefront: literally in the very first frames we see how Priscilla draws wings and paints her eyelashes, so it’s immediately clear that the way she looks will play an important role in the storyline character.

Cliona Furey and Jo-Ann McNeil, who were responsible for Priscilla’s hair and makeup, said that this film is not about the life of Elvis, but primarily about Priscilla’s journey. “We filmed a lot of scenes that took place in their home, when they were alone, in their bedroom, or when they were getting ready for bed. But in fact, no one knows what they looked like in the bedroom,” adds Cliona Fury. Their main task was to show Priscilla at different ages, and as a result, the heroine’s changing clothes, hairstyle and makeup become the basis of the film and show not only the passage of time, but also the development of Priscilla as a person. And if at first she wears almost no makeup, then as her relationship with Elvis develops, she gradually begins to add a little lipstick, blush and a little mascara. When Priscilla moves into Graceland, Elvis gives her a complete makeover, creating that famous 1960s look (“black hair and more eye makeup,” as Jacob Elordi says in the film, in an Elvis-like drawl). Seven wigs were used to recreate Priscilla’s hairstyles, such as her big black hair, and several wigs and hairpieces were used to emulate Elvis’s look. For styling, the stylists used regular combs and brushes and classic hairspray – as if a time machine had suddenly started working.

In clothing, Priscilla’s style also changed as her life changed: if as a teenager she wears fluffy skirts with buttoned cardigans and wears her hair in a simple ponytail, then with the appearance of Elvis in her life, everything gradually becomes more complicated. But over time, the relationship changes, she grows up, deviates from these rules, and changes in style show that clothes can not only control and constrain, but also liberate. However, despite the obvious message of the film “be yourself,” critics agree on one thing: it is not possible to fully understand who Priscilla is after watching the film: the perfect picture leaves questions unanswered.

Irina Kiriyenko