After several good documentary projects about the life and work of the King of Rock and Roll Elvis Presley, I managed to find one that did not resemble the previous ones. This film was "Elvis Presley: The Seeker", released in 2018.
While much has been said and written about Elvis, when it would seem that there is more to surprise fans of the singer (and not only fans), the filmmakers still managed to bring new material to the presentation.
I will not hide that among the huge number of documentaries about cultural figures, over the past few years I began to like the type of films where neither the narrator nor the interviewees are shown on the screen, but only the main character (heroes) in the context of studying his (their) biography in a certain historical period of time. I loved the Frank Sinatra movie, which was made on this principle. And now, a few years later, the Americans have released a similar project in style, but about Elvis Presley (who was also shown on Channel One).
Structurally, the film is divided into 2 series, the timing of each of which is quite pulling on a full-length movie. And while the first series focuses on Elvis’ early career in the 1950s until his retirement in 1958, the second series will provide a brief overview of the King’s ups and downs (from his return from the army in 1960 to his death in 1977). However, the link between the series (as well as the central event in the entire film) will be the 1968 TV movie Elvis, in which the King managed to triumphantly return to the big stage after years of oblivion due to filming in Hollywood. As the final chord of "Elvis Presley: The Seeker" will sound the full song "If I Can Dream", which ended the 1968 TV movie.
For those viewers who have never known about the life of Elvis Presley, I would recommend watching the film, since the authors carefully approached the study of the biography of the singer and musician, highlighting only the main ones. Of course, this is not the most complete study of the life and work of the artist. Given the fact that the former wife of Elvis Priscilla had a hand in creating the picture, the theme of their painful divorce was presented in the film very carefully, and not a word was said about the relationship of the singer with Anita Wood, Linda Thompson and Ginger Olden. Some factual errors were also made. For example, the creators claimed that Elvis never toured in other countries. However, this was not the case (although few had heard of the singer’s 1957 tour to Canada). Or Bill Black is called a bass player, although even the photos and videos show that he was a double bass player. Of course, it was a little hurt for such blunders and understatements. But overall, the quality of the film did not suffer much from this.
The most important thing that can be taken from the project - the authors treated the hero with love and respect. Even the popular question “What was the beginning of the end of Presley – the army, the death of his mother, or drugs?” is treated with caution, without the reception of the “yellow press”. Without speculating on theories or blaming his “Colonel” manager Tom Parker for all the deadly sins, the creators simply told the story of the creative Personality as it was. It seems to me that such a presentation of material takes place.
9 out of 10