Emilia Perez is a brave, original film that you must see. 

Running over two and half hours, Emilia Perez is a sometimes-challenging watch, but this viewer was never bored. I don’t think you could really put this film in a genre at all. Think Scarface with gender identity and musical numbers. It shouldn’t work but it does.

It all begins with Rita (Zoe Saldaña) a defence lawyer in Mexico City writing a closing speech for her boss. Although the writing makes him look good in court and he goes on to win the case he is very unappreciative of her work. She feels unnoticed but someone has picked her out of the crowd. She gets a call from Manitas (Karla Sofia Gascón who is a real-life Spanish trans actor), a well-known drug cartel boss who wants to change into a woman. He hires her to find the right person to do the sex change.  

After moving his wife Jessi (Selena Gomez) and her two boys to Switzerland for their safety, Rita helps him to fake his own death to become Emilia Perez. Four years later, Rita meets Emilia in London and for a few seconds she doesn’t recognising her. Emilia tells Rita that she misses her children and wants to bring them back to Mexico and she wants Rita to organise it.  

Rita tells Jessi that Emilia is a distant cousin, and she can live with her without being in harm’s way. Moreover, Emilia and Rita start up a non-profit in Mexico to find missing bodies of the drug cartel victims for their family members. For Perez, it seems her guilt about her violent past needs to be exorcised.  Whilst all of this is happening Emilia gets jealous and angry at Jessi for not seeing her kids but also reconnecting with an old flame Gustavo (Edgar Ramirez). 

Events begin to spiral out of control.  

The movie is in Spanish and English; the balance between them is used subtly and for someone who doesn’t like subtitles in a film and can find them distracting, I didn’t mind it at all. What I found fascinating about this film is the musicality of even the spoken word.

With each line that the actors say or sing, there is a rhythmic tempo, almost like a hum that is very effective. Instead of being a flat out musical with huge numbers, it felt very intimate and personal.  The use of three different styles of cinematography worked well. It was unique. I liked how it moved from a film camera to an iPhone and even a karaoke screen. You don’t get that often in film these days, but here it added to the authenticity.

 NETFLIX who produced this film should get praise for letting French Director Jacques Audiard be experimental and express his artistic vision.

 I don’t think you can find a more talented group of women to play these roles and Audiard used the strengths of each of the actors brilliantly. I never knew that Zoe Saldaña could sing.

The director cleverly weaves in the concerns of drug violence and its devastating impact on Mexican society. He explores the complexities of transforming into a transwoman, which prove to be especially tough given the protagonist’s machismo surroundings that she must navigate through.

It’s not perfect though, which is understandable given the experimental nature of the production. The first half is more dynamic, the music and action propel forward with an almost dizzyingly intensity as the story takes shape. However, once everyone settles back to Mexico City, things drag. The songs are more repetitive, and scenes lack emotional depth. Also, the ending looks inevitable with an hour left to go which is never a good sign and you are left wishing for the movie to hurry up and get there. 

All in all, a movie that rewards the open mind. 

One Comment

  1. Packachange said:

    Packachange I really like reading through a post that can make men and women think. Also, thank you for allowing me to comment!

    November 14, 2024
    Reply

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