Past screening

The King

Directed by: Eugene Jarecki
Runtime: 1hr 49min Year: 2017
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Details

Directed by: Eugene Jarecki
Runtime: 1hr 49min Year: 2017
Country: United States
Last Screened: Thu 20th Sep 2018

Eugene Jarecki takes a roadtrip across America in Elvis Presley’s 1963 Rolls-Royce to offer a state of the nation epic that tracks the rise and fall of one America’s greatest musical stars.

‘Wildly ambitious, thoroughly entertaining and embellished with some snaky moves, Eugene Jarecki’s documentary is a lot like its nominal subject, Elvis Presley.’ – The New York Times

From Memphis to New York, Las Vegas, and beyond, the journey traces the rise and fall of Elvis as a metaphor for the country he left behind – mapping the concept of the American Dream against both Elvis’ meteoric rise from poverty, yet also realities of a Jim Crow south and harsh social inequality.

Alongside the story of Elvis’ career, Jarecki travels to the King’s childhood homes; meeting the people once his peers alongside the community living there today, to remember the power of music amidst the struggles of a nation.