FINDING GRACELAND

US, 1998, 106 minutes, Colour.

Harvey Keitel, Jonathon Schaech, Bridget Fonda, Gretchen Moll, John Aylward.

Directed by David Winkler.

Finding Graceland is an unexpected enjoyable cinema experience. It was made 20 years after the death of Elvis Presley, the screenplay approved by Priscilla Presley who acted as one of the producers.

This is a road film, focusing on a 60-year-old man, played by Harvey Keitel in one of his best roles, who wanders the countryside, getting lifts, speaking as if he is Elvis Presley himself, an intense knowledge of the life of Elvis, of his inner feelings. Keitel is not made up to look like Elvis but wears his shoes and his talk is so persuasive that we are inclined to believe him.

Key to the plot is the fact that this wandering man has lost his wife and daughter in a plane crash in Memphis, the same day that Elvis died, both deaths being reported in the newspaper that he carries.

Stranded in Western states, imposes himself on a young doctor whose wife has been killed in a car crash for which he blames himself. His played by Jonathan Schaech, persuasive in the role. The young man is suspicious, wants to get rid of his passenger, gets in a tangle with having to pay for the lunch and paying a tip, but letting his passenger drive his prized 1959 car, speeding, a policeman interrogating them but Elvis reminiscing with the policeman and their being let go. There is a crash, the young man stranded, Elvis going to the next town but sending a tow truck. And many such adventures…

Eventually, they arrive in Memphis, Elvis going to a club, their meeting Marilyn Munro impersonator, played by Bridget Fonda, Elvis gambling and losing his money – but, initially apprehensive, going on stage and singing Suspicious Mines. Bridget Fonda also does a Marilyn impersonation singing You’d be Surprised.

There is quite some pathos of the ending as Elvis persuades the young man to visit his wife’s grave, acknowledge what truly happened, go back to the Marilyn impersonator, a possible future.

At a candlelit procession, Elvis vanishes into the crowd to continue his journey.

1. Elvis Presley as an icon? Graceland? This film 20 years after his death?
2. The Western settings, the open spaces, Texas, small towns, garages, diners, motels? Memphis and Tennessee, the clubs, audiences and performances, role-playing? The Cemetery sequence?
3. The musical score, the range of Elvis songs, Bridget Fonda singing You’d be Surprised like Marilyn Monroe, Harvey Keitel singing Suspicious Minds?
4. The film as realism, the older man, as Elvis, travelling, getting lifts, the encounter with Byron, imposing himself, the encounters along the road, the girls at the motel, the police officer and speeding, the garage and the repairs?
5. The film with a touch of the supernatural? The news that Elvis’s wife and daughter were killed in a plane crash in Memphis, the same day that Elvis died? The newspaper reports? The suggestion of transmigration from Elvis into the older man? His knowledge of Elvis’s life, details, the repartee with the police officer? Channelling Elvis? Yet his choice of Byron, acting like a protector, guardian angel? His performance on stage and the audience response, collapse? And his taking Byron to his wife’s grave?
6. Harvey Keitel as Elvis, not relying on make up, the shoes, the music, the personality, choosing Byron, the discussions, Byron and his hostility, pressured to give hima lift, Byron allowing him to drive, speeding, the conversation with the policeman? Wanting Byron to admit that he was Elvis? The van overtaking them and seeing the van in Memphis? The damage to Byron’s car, his pride and joy, the repairs, like new? Elvis taking care of it?
7. At the casino, Elvis and his gambling, the risk, losing everything, his not caring? The encounter with Ashley, her Marilyn Monroe impersonation, the song, painting, kissing Byron? Her act? The encounter with the others – Bogart, Gable, Garland, West…?
8. Ashley, as Marilyn Monroe, in her band, without make up, not resembling Marilyn, the bond with Byron? Concern about Elvis? The performance, the song? Supporting Elvis?
9. Byron, the opening, driving with his wife, the kiss, the crash? Her death? Only later revealing that he was not driving? Being haunted, unable to go to Memphis? His medical background, the significance of his car? Elvis pressurising him to give him a lift, the conversations, the episode at the diner, paying for the meal, Elvis urging him to leave a tip? On the road, his bewilderment with the policeman after Elvis was speeding? The car not starting, Elvis arranging the timing, the repairs?
10. Byron mellowing with Elvis, watching him gamble, the encounter with Marilyn, the kiss and its effect? The bond between the two?
11. Elvis, the performance, the acclaim of the audience? An achievement? Moving on? Going to the cemetery, the truth about Beatrice’s death? The truth about Elvis and his family?
12. The Elvis parade, the visit to Grattan Graceland, the symbolism of Graceland, Elvis finding it empty? The line-up of people, the candles, Elvis disappearing into the crowd, the encounter between Byron and Ashley? His having left his wedding ring that Beatrice’s grave?