‘The King’ continues to fascinate America

Published 1:30 am Thursday, July 19, 2018

Nick Taylor is the owner and operator of Dragonfly Cinema, Port Orchard’s independent theater on Bay Street downtown. He on occasion offers readers a look at interesting offerings coming up. The movie opening Friday: “The King.”

By Nick Taylor

Dragonfly Cinema

Coming to the Dragonfly Cinema on Friday, July 20, is the thought-provoking Elvis Presley documentary “The King,” a meditation on the rise and fall of one of the country’s most iconic figures, and how his legacy relates to modern America.

“The King” is a sprawling, sometimes overreaching, film but always an engaging and affecting travelogue. Award-winning filmmaker Eugene Jarecki frames the story by firing up Presley’s 1963 Rolls Royce and driving it from coast to coast, stopping in cities that were pivotal in Elvis’s story and also factor significantly in the modern history of the U.S.

Along the way, they stop and pick up many famous faces (Alec Baldwin, James Carville and Ethan Hawke, to name a few) to speak about their relationship to the artist and icon, some personal and some as an observer. With each guest and stop (sometimes forced by the Rolls breaking down), the scope of the film widens to encompass Elvis’s spreading impact and influence.

At its conclusion, it has asked more questions than it answers, but the best art usually does.

For more information including showtimes or to buy tickets, visit dragonflycinema.com.