Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis has, for the most part, been well-received by critics and audiences, but he has an project that is likely to be even better. Apart from the title, little is known about Luhrmann’s next movie, especially considering the spotlight is still firmly fixed on Austin Butler’s performance as the King. However, Luhrmann’s choice alone is incredibly promising and will provide an opportunity for the director to correct some of Elvis’ shortcomings.
Luhrmann’s aesthetic tastes are instantly recognizable. Across a number of iconic films, including Moulin Rouge, Romeo and Juliet, and The Great Gatsby, Luhrmann demonstrates a flair for excess, through musical choices and choreographed set-pieces. It is in this area that his latest endeavor, Elvis, truly excels and warrants its positive reviews. However, Elvis does struggle to retain its momentum during the quieter moments.
After a long struggle to acquire the rights, Luhrmann is adapting Mikhail Bulgakov’s Master and Margarita for the big screen. This is a perfect choice for the renowned director. Not only is the style of the source material closer to Luhrmann’s most celebrated films than it is to his recent musical biopic, but it’s also the perfect time for Hollywood to adapt this classic Russian novel.
Elvis’s Best Scenes Were The Product Of Luhrmann’s Maximalist Style
Despite being an overall success, Elvis has not escaped criticism entirely. On the surface, the biopic seems a slightly unusual choice for Luhrmann. In his previous works, Luhrmann relies heavily on flamboyance and maximalist portrayals. While Elvis, the man, accurately embodied these two characteristics, there is more to his story. Luhrmann is almost frustratingly limited by real life. When adapting a play or a novel, liberties can be taken, but adapting a figure from history is more complicated.
Luhrmann leans heavily into the mythology of the figure of Elvis. This allows him – and Butler – to create sensational scenes. However, it also means crucial historical details are overlooked. Pioneering black artists are scarcely developed. Luhrmann suggests Elvis was merely influenced by these figures; in truth, “stole from” might be a more accurate label. Additionally, Tom Hanks’ performance as the controversial Colonel Tom Parker has been criticized as one of the worst in his career. Elvis, therefore, is at its best when Luhrmann pushes the limitations and indulges his maximalist fancies, something which Master and Margarita will undoubtedly allow him to do.
Luhrmann’s Best Movies Are Modernizations Of Classic Literature
As a director with such a vivid style, his work is not always the most palatable. The Great Gatsby, for example, is sometimes accused of ignoring the themes of Fitzgerald’s novel in order to indulge in its own hedonistic excess. Nevertheless, his depiction of the Roaring Twenties is one of Luhrmann’s most successful movies. Along with Romeo and Juliet, The Great Gatsby seems to be where Luhrmann is most comfortable, and where his style makes the most sense.
Both stories are derived from incredibly familiar texts. The Great Gatsby and Romeo and Juliet often feature on school curriculums. By telling an audience a story they already know, Luhrmann is almost forced to think excessively, and the soundtracks alone are a keen example of this. Master and Margarita is less well known than Luhrmann’s previous literary adaptations, but Bulgakov’s story is established enough for Luhrmann to bring it to colorful life without stumbling through filler scenes like Elvis. Additionally, Moulin Rouge, which bears some resemblance to Elvis in of its singing, is set in 1900. Master and Margarita takes place during Stalin’s reign in the 1930s. Another historical piece seems like a sensible choice for the director.
Master and Margarita Is Ideally Suited To An Adaptation By Luhrmann
It’s difficult to imagine another director being able to adapt Master and Margarita for the big screen in the 2020s. Bulgakov’s novel explores excess in a way that matches Luhrmann’s style. The colorful fantasy of the story would not work if a subtler director took on the project. Likewise, a more serious Russian novel, such as Crime and Punishment or And Quiet Flows the Don, would not work if directed by Baz Luhrmann.
Master and Margarita is not a simple political or religious allegory; while Bulgakov addresses the evils and absurdities of both these concepts, the novel is above all an artistic endeavor. Its primary concern is style. From a vodka-guzzling cat, to the crucifixion of Christ, Master and Margarita’s experimentation is boundless. Only Luhrmann, therefore, is aesthetically excessive enough to adapt it.
Why A Master And Margarita Adaptation Is Perfect For Today
While Luhrmann is no stranger to adapting classic literature, he’s yet to take on a Russian text. A Master and Margarita movie couldn’t happen at a better time. There have been various Russian adaptations over the years, but each one faced troubles while filming. This has led to the reputation of it being cursed. Modern Hollywood, however, is yet to give it a try. Russia has played the bogeyman in Hollywood even more often than Ted Bundy. Especially in the 1980s, given the conflict between America and Russia, Russians were almost always portrayed as villains. As the political landscape changed, Hollywood looked to the Middle East for its antagonists in the 2000s. But Russia is once again cropping up as a villain. The invasion in Ukraine means a Master and Margarita adaptation couldn’t be more timely.
Importantly, in the novel, Russian people are not villains. It is society that is portrayed as flawed, and the tyranny that controls it. In of genre, Master and Margarita is a satire. Given the severity of what happened in the Soviet Union in the 1930s, and what is happening in Ukraine today, a satirical text seems like a sensible choice. It will enable Luhrmann to engage in current debates, including the burning of manuscripts, without sacrificing his signature flair.
A Soviet Union-set satire is certainly a step away from the musical abandon Luhrmann experiments with in Elvis. Unlike Tom Hanks' performance, this is not a misstep. Luhrmann’s Master and Margarita will not be the last Hollywood film that explores the evils of Russia in the wake of current affairs. However, it is the perfect movie to begin a crucial discourse.
