Those desiring respite from the grimness dominating the news could do worse than seek refuge in Elvis Presley. The film EPiC (Elvis Presley in Concert) arrived in cinemas recently courtesy of director Baz Luhrmann. It is a very different project than Luhrmann’s sparkly and cartoonish Elvis film of 2022, starring Austin Butler as Elvis and Tom Hanks as his manager, Tom Parker.

EPiC is far superior; Elvis as himself in all his glory, as he prepared for his Las Vegas residency and comeback from 1969-76 at the International Hotel, during which he sometimes delivered three live performances a day. In total, he played 1,126 shows during the eight-year residency. It is no wonder he died so young, aged 42, in 1977; as he tells one interviewer in the film: “I can’t stand still. I’ve tried it, I can’t do it.”

The film was made possible by the unearthing of 59 hours worth of performance and interview material in a Warner Bros film vault, much of it previously unseen. According to the movie’s press notes, the cache had lain in an underground salt mine in Kansas. The film also makes use of Super 8 footage from the Graceland archives. The footage has been expertly restored and offers a satisfying intimacy.

The film reminds us that at one point Elvis was asked at a press conference about his view of the heated controversies........

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