'EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert' review: The King comes alive in Baz Luhrmann's dazzling film

It’s August 10, 1970, the opening night of Elvis Presley’s residency at the International Hotel in Las Vegas. Presley occupies a weird cultural space in this post-Beatles, post-Woodstock moment, hovering somewhere between iconic 'n Roll?

That’s what it’s like watching "EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert," a movie so alive that you can practically feel the body heat radiating from the singer’s white jumpsuit. Director Baz Luhrmann (the 2022 biopic "Elvis") culled the movie from 59 hours of newly discovered footage, much of it outtakes from the 1970 concert film "Elvis: That’s the Way It Is." Restored by Peter Jackson’s Park Road Post facility (the 2019 World War I documentary "They Shall Not Grow Old"), this archival material brings Presley to life in all his sweat-soaked, hip-swiveling glory.

A somewhat hasty intro recounts the singer’s early years, Army service and many execrable movies (notably 1968’s "Live a Little, Love a Little," featuring a dream sequence with a fake dog). Once we’re in Vegas, things pick up. Here’s Presley in a fluorescent paisley shirt and pinstripe trousers, leading rehearsals with his TCB Band, cracking corny jokes and charming anyone — from the cameraman to his own backup singers — who’s lucky enough to cross his path.

"Whether it’s six or 6,000, it doesn’t really matter," Presley says later. "They bring it out of me — the ham."

The film’s highlight? Take your pick. It might be "Polk Salad Annie," a suggestive Southern rocker with a hint of autobiography (“’Cause that’s about all they had to eat / They did all right"). It might be the gospel number "How Great Thou Art," which illuminates rock music’s churchly roots. Or maybe it’s "Suspicious Minds," the film’s closing number, which rises and falls and rises for what feels like hours until Presley reaches a body-shaking climax. (The 1950s preachers were right: This music really is all about sex.)

There are some fine moments left over from 1972’s "Elvis on Tour" film, plus brief glimpses from the famous 1957 "gold jacket" performance in Hawaii, but it’s the International Hotel performances that’ll persist in your vision. Reportedly shot with eight Panavision cameras on 35 mm film, the footage has that supersaturated, eye-bewitching quality of classic movies like "Spartacus." Only a showman like Presley could hold a screen this big.

A closing poem written and recited by Bono sums up the criticisms of Presley (cultural appropriator, talent squanderer, symbol of excess) even while placing him on a pedestal (founding rock ‘n’ roll father, generational life-changer, symbol of America itself). It’s brief and artfully done, but it also breaks the mood a little. The film’s greatest gift is this: For 90 minutes, we have Elvis Presley all to ourselves.

By Rafer Guzmán

rafer.guzman@newsday.com