Introduction
“Priscilla Presley's story is unique but strangely relatable at the same time. In her memoir, Elvis and Me, she writes so directly about going through the stages most girls go through into womanhood, but in this wild and eccentric setting, Graceland — partying with Elvis at night and struggling to stay awake at her Catholic high school during the day. Making Priscilla, I was able to immerse myself in her world of 1960s Memphis to do something steeped in Americana, delving into all the photographs and research available. Over the following pages I've gathered some of the texts and images that informed my process. I loved getting into the music of that time, which I haven't focused on before, and looking at the colours of that period — the clothing, cars and furniture — helped me create the palette of the film. The Memphis-born photographer William Eggleston has always been a hero of mine and his still lifes of Graceland's interiors were a big inspiration — I was surprised to learn he had been hired to take these photos for a Graceland brochure. I love films that transport you to a different world, and I hope Priscilla achieves that.”
— Sofia Coppola
— Sofia Coppola
Document
William Eggleston's View of Graceland: The Absence of Elvis
In 1957, at 22 the most famous man in America (save for President Eisenhower and General Douglas MacArthur, who had won their glory in other times and with whom he was in only metaphysical competition), Elvis Presley bought Graceland, a postbellum (1939) white-columned mansion in Memphis, Tennessee. With his mother (until her death in 1958), his father, his grandmother, various cousins, his paid friends and hangers-on, his teenage ward who became his wife (until their separation in 1972), his daughter and finally his girlfriend (“Fiancée!” she
