Four editors are credited on "The King" (Simon Barker, Alex Bingham, Èlia Gasull Balada and Laura Israel) and it's daunting to consider the job of piecing the film together. There are clips of FDR, and clips of the children's show Barney. We see O.J. trying on the glove. Then we see Presley bombarded by fans. There's footage of violent Trump rallies and Presley's mother Gladys throwing a snowball on Graceland's front lawn. The goal doesn't seem to be to create a cohesive narrative. The film is messier than that, and the mess is in its favor. (The title change—from "Promised Land" to "The King" is a big mistake. "The King" makes it sound like it's going to be yet another Elvis documentary, but "Promised Land" has a sarcastic bite, especially as the film builds in momentum.)
Throughout, Jarecki keeps going back to stunning aerial footage of the car driving through empty deserts, farmlands, coastlines. There are almost erotic closeup shots of the car's side mirrors, radio console, steering wheel, door locks; the Rolls is filmed like it's an objets d'art, as indeed it is. In 1956, the year Elvis' fame went mainstream, a 45 RPM was inserted into Teen Magazine called "The Truth About Me," and in it, Elvis quietly spoke about his life. He said, "I suppose you know I've got a lot of cars. People have written about it in the papers and a lot of them write and ask me why. When I was driving a truck, every time a big shiny car drove by it started me sort of daydreaming. I always felt that some day, somehow, something would happen to change everything for me, and I'd daydream about how it would be." Cars are the ultimate symbol, even now, not just of wealth, but of freedom and independence. In 1963, after being a Cadillac-man for years, Presley bought the Rolls while ensconced in Bel Air, living the cloistered life of a movie star. Initially dark blue, he had it repainted a shimmering silver-blue. The Rolls was a symbolic choice, for those paying attention.
David Simon, journalist, Elvis fan, and creator of "The Wire," addresses this issue while hanging out on a stoop with Jarecki, as the road crew tries to fix the broken Rolls. Simon criticizes Jarecki's choice to do the movie with the Rolls in the first place. It's a snooty car. (Cue the "Do you have any Grey Poupon?" commercial.) Simon says bluntly, "It's a bad metaphor. The better metaphor is one of his Cadillacs." Most importantly, the Cadillac is American-made. Simon has a point.
Late in the film, an old guy with a guitar sings a blues song in a junk yard, with dismantled and crushed cars towering around him. Metaphors proliferate in "The King" with dizzying speed, glanced at and tossed aside, or lingered on and contemplated. The effect is hypnotic, thought-provoking, and profoundly mournful.
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