Sofia Coppola’s ‘Priscilla’ Rocks Venice With 7-Minute Standing Ovation as Priscilla Presley Cries

Ellise Shafer Michel Franco’s heartbreaking drama “Memory” earned a strong eight-minute standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival on Friday night as stars Jessica Chastain and Peter Sarsgaard wiped away tears. Franco, Chastain and Sarsgaard embraced as the audience cheered them on, with each taking their turn in the spotlight to accept the applause. After the crowd clapped for several minutes, Chastain was visibly emotional, dabbing at her eyes as she smiled with pride.

Director Sofia Coppola’s biopic “Priscilla” made its debut at the Venice International Film Festival, where Coppola was joined by the film’s subject, Priscilla Presley, and stars Cailee Spaeny (who plays Priscilla Presley) and Jacob Elordi (Elvis Presley).

Ellise Shafer Ava DuVernay’s latest film, “Origin,” premiered in competition at Venice Film Festival to a 5 minute and 46 second standing ovation. Based on Isabel Wilkerson’s book “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents,” “Origin” chronicles “the remarkable life and work” of Wilkerson “as she investigates the genesis of injustice and uncovers a hidden truth that affects us all,” according to the film’s synopsis. The drama stars Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Niecy Nash-Betts, Jon Bernthal, Niecy Nash-Betts, Vera Farmiga, Audra McDonald, Nick Offerman, Blair Underwood, Connie Nielsen, Emily Yancy, Jasmine Cephas-Jones, Finn Wittock, Victoria Pedretti, Isha Blaaker and Myles Frost.

Ellise Shafer Richard Linklater’s “Hit Man” received a spirited five-minute standing ovation on Tuesday night, as the director handed out high fives. The action comedy, which stars Glen Powell, received cheers from the beginning, with the crowd clapping throughout the film during various scenes. During the standing ovation, Linklater looked overwhelmed by the applause, mouthing “thank you so much” and holding his hand to his heart.

Sofia Coppola’s new film about Priscilla Presley is earning rave reviews.

The tears flowed for Priscilla Presley following the world premiere of Sofia Coppola’s biopic, “Priscilla”, in Venice on Monday.

Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla got a rousing response at its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival on Monday evening. The pic, a biopic of Priscilla Presley, who was in attendance for the move based on the memoir she co-authored, scored a 7-minute, 45-second ovation.

Owen Gleiberman Chief Film Critic The last time Sofia Coppola made a movie about a teenage royal living in a rococo palace that turned out to be a lavish prison, it was 2006, and the movie, “Marie Antoinette,” was a stylized dream of history — the story of the young queen as naïve and isolated rock star. Coppola’s new movie dramatizes the relationship between Priscilla and Elvis Presley, and the parallels with the earlier film are there if you want to see them.

Jacob Elordi towers over Cailee Spaeny at the premiere of Priscilla during the 2023 Venice Film Festival.

The devil is in the details. Pink-nailed toes scrunching on a pink carpet; a packet of false eyelashes; piles of chips in a Vegas casino; the pills. Always the pills: squeezed in a palm that opens to reveal its little white prize; lined up in bottles on the bedside table; slipped into a pocket on the way to school. “Maybe the pills are too much,” ventures Priscilla Beaulieu to her boyfriend Elvis Presley, after one of his flares of temper where she just manages to dodge his fist. “I have doctors looking after me,” he growls. “I don’t need a second opinion.”

The most powerful aspect of Sofia Coppola’s “Priscilla,” premiering in Competition at this year’s Venice Film Festival, is in the title: to focus on Priscilla Presley, née Wagner, formerly Beaulieu, is to show a side of a marriage and of the King himself less familiar than and in some ways different from the romantic popular legend. But Coppola’s film does much more than simply show us the facts of how a fourteen-year-old girl gets to become the girlfriend and then wife of one of the biggest artists of all time.

Fremantle kicked off its presence at the Venice Film Festival with a bang this year with the announcement of its new €150M ($162.7M) Scripted Fund forged in partnership with Israel-based IBI Investment House. 

Bradley Cooper appears to have another winner on his hands.

Ellise Shafer Harmony Korine’s “Aggro Dr1ft” received a 10-minute standing ovation after its premiere at Venice Film Festival, despite a flurry of walkouts. Though some audience members left as soon as the experimental action film finished (and at least 25 departed before that), Korine’s hardcore fans stuck around for a rousing 10-minute ovation. As Korine greeted the crowd and did a happy dance, chants of “Harmony! Harmony! Harmony!” rang out.

Maestro” — Bradley Cooper’s long-awaited second film as director — premiered at the Venice Film Festival to rapturous applause. The drama about the life of legendary stage composer Leonard Bernstein landed a seven-minute-standing ovation at its world premiere at the Sala Grande Theatre on Saturday night. Cooper, who also plays Bernstein in the Netflix film (with the help of nose prosthetics), and his co-star Carey Mulligan didn’t attend the night’s festivities due to the SAG-AFRTRA strike.

Jacob Elordi is getting ready for the premiere of his new movie.

Poor Things,” the oddest movie to premiere at this year’s Venice Film Festival, landed the biggest standing ovation so far. On Friday night, Yorgos Lanthimos’ drama, starring Emma Stone as a woman who finds her identity through a series of tragic (and scientific) events, received an eight-minute standing ovation at its world premiere. “Genius! We love you! Yorgos!” the crowd chanted at the auteur director behind “The Favourite” and “The Lobster.” Lanthimos lapped up the love and attention, as he walked down the balcony of the Sala Grande Theatre, shaking hands with his fans and signing autographs.

The Venice Film Festival began August 30 with opening-night movie , an Italian World War II drama, kicking off a lineup for the venerable fest’s 80th edition that includes world premieres of Michael Mann’s Ferrari, Bradley Cooper’s Maestro, Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla, Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things, David Fincher’s The Killer, Ava DuVernay’s Origins, and new films from lightning-rod directors Roman Polanski, Woody Allen and Luc Besson.

Wes Anderson beamed with joy as his 40-minute short film “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar” received a nearly 4-minute standing ovation at its Venice Film Festival premiere. Prior to the screening, Anderson was presented with Cartier’s Glory to the Filmmaker Award, which was presented to him by his frequent collaborator Alexandre Desplat.

Adam Driver hit out at streaming services like Amazon and Netflix as he promoted his film “Ferrari” at Venice Film Festival on Thursday.