Emilia Perez
EMILIA PEREZ (15)
D: Jacques Audiard
Pathé / Why Not / Page 114 / France 2 Cinema / Saint Laurent / Pimienta (Jacques Audiard, Pascal Caucheteux, Valerie Schermann & Anthony Vaccarello)
France/Mexico/Belgium 🇫🇷🇲🇽🇧🇪 2024
132 mins
Musical/Crime/Comedy/Drama
W: Jacques Audiard [based on his opera and the novel by “Écoute” by Boris Razon]
DP: Paul Guilhaume
Ed: Juliette Welfling
Mus: Clement Ducol; Camille
PD: Emmanuelle Duplay
Cos: Virginie Montel
Karla Sofia Gascón (Emilia Perez / Juan ‘Manitas’ Del Monte), Zoe Saldaña (Rita Mora Castro), Selena Gomez (Jessi Del Monte), Adriana Paz (Epifania Flores), Edgar Ramirez (Gustavo Brun)
When a film receives 13 Oscar nominations, it’s quite fair to expect a groundbreaking masterpiece of cinema, which Emilia Perez most certainly isn’t, but I would certainly agree that it’s a cinematic experience - for better or worse.
This Spanish language musical drama crime thriller comedy from a French director with a transgender lead has lofty ambitions, but also has several flaws.
The film centres around the titular character, born Juan ‘Manitas’ Del Monte, a notorious cartel leader who enlists the help of industrious but under-appreciated lawyer, Rita Mora Castro to arrange a sex change operation and a new life. Reborn as Emilia Perez, the once brutal gang leader sets up a philanthropist organisation that helps families who were once victims of the cartels. However, Manitas’ violent past eventually finds a way of coming back to haunt them, despite their efforts to start life afresh.
Starting with the positives, I would say that the performances are fine, especially from Karla Sofia Gascon (a legitimate transgender actress) & Zoë Saldaña, and though Selena Gomez received criticisms for not having an authentic Mexican accent and/or butchered the pronunciation of Spanish words, I didn’t see issue as it was mentioned during the film that she was had American origins. Adriana Paz’s performance should also receive praise for a much smaller role.
The story does work in places, but I do find the assumption that one can find redemption & atone for their past sins via changing their sex a little heavy handed, which is a criticism highlighted by many from the trans community and LGBT groups. Nevertheless, the ending does partially resolve this, though the editing in the final third is a little choppy.
The biggest criticism for me are the musical numbers themselves, as the vast majority of the songs are quite awful and I only started to enjoy the film once the campy musical segues into more dramatic territory towards the final act of the film.
On one hand, I could say that Jacques Audiard has provided a truly unique film here, but the cynic in me believes that this was a film made specifically for one group in particular - Oscar voters, as much of it really does seem to be aimed at the Hollywood liberal bubble who would deem everything about this film as progressive, when it’s actually quite gaudy and pretentious.
Not a terrible film as some have claimed it to be, but it didn’t deserve 13 Oscar nominations either and shouldn’t be anywhere near the Best Picture lineup.
6/10
