"Rita" (Zoe Saldana) is a lawyer in Mexico who finds her professionalism attracting the attention of the powerful drug lord "Manitas". He spends his time heavily guarded and constantly on the move as he pretty much controls the synthetic drug trade in and out of his country. What does he want with "Rita" though? Well tempted by a great deal of money, she makes the perilous trip to meet him and find out. Suffice to say she gets quite a shock when she discovers that he is determined to become a woman. "Rita" is now charged with the ultra-discrete task of finding a surgeon who can turn "Manitas" into "Emilia". Not only is this highly dangerous for the lawyer, but it's also no walk in the park for the gangster or his family who will need to be relocated and convinced that dad is no more. What now ensues tests the mettle of both characters, especially as the erstwhile father struggles rather more than he'd anticipated when it comes to losing his wife "Jessi" (Selena Gomez) and his two young children. Can he stay out of their lives for ever or might he succumb to that temptation and set the cat amongst the familial pigeons? The story is a bit too episodic and the characterisations superficial at times, which is a shame. That said, though, there is still a strong and emotionally powerful effort from Karla Sofía Gascón as the ruthlessly violent killer who undergoes more than a physical transformation over the four or five year period this drama covers. Saldana also holds this together well delivering an engaging performance as a character who has perhaps lost faith in what the system can do to make things better for ordinary people, so adopts a more "inside the tent of the enemy" approach. It's peppered with musical numbers. Some of those work better than others at introducing delicacy, love, lust and anger into the proceedings but let's be under no illusions that there are any great singers here. I found the denouement a bit rushed and frankly rather weak, but the whole film does shine rather a provocative light on attitudes to gender identification and just as importantly to corruption and the relatively minimal value placed on human life in country where someone almost always works for someone else. It's just a little over two hours, but once it gets into gear it doesn't hang around making for a decent watch tackling important topics that's worth a gander.
It generally takes tremendous courage to stand up and proclaim that the Emperor is indeed naked, especially in the face of a crowd of willfully blind onlookers who contend otherwise. Nevertheless, there are times when this truly needs to be said in light of an inexplicably misguided view to the contrary. And that’s certainly the case with the latest from often-overrated writer-director Jacques Audiard. This jumbled mess of a film can’t make up its mind if it wants to be an edgy musical (given its forgettable songs and original score), a quasi-campy comedy (despite its palpable lack of bona fide humor but with a narrative that’s admittedly frequently laughable), a crime thriller (one that feebly grows ever more pretentious, meandering, implausible and uncompelling with each passing frame) or a treatise on forgiveness and redemption that unapologetically drips with overwrought political correctness. In essence, this offering follows the exploits of Manitas (Karla Sofía Gascón), a Mexican drug cartel warlord who wants to undergo the transgender transition process to liberate the inner woman that has been inside him since birth, aided by a supposedly articulate and self-righteous lawyer (Zoe Saldaña) who hastily and seemingly thoughtlessly sells out with the promise of a financial windfall for her assistance. After undergoing the process, however, the newly emerged Emilia Pérez has regrets about her past, both in terms of her brutal “professional” behavior and the abandonment of her kids and shrewish, self-centered wife (a fine performance by Selena Gomez in one of the film’s few praiseworthy assets). However, this change of heart, while modestly understandable, generally lacks believability. And, given the utterly reprehensible nature and baffling, head-scratchingly contradictory choices of all the principals, it’s difficult to fathom how anyone would care a whit about any of them. That’s especially true for the picture’s lead, whose actions do little to generate any kind of meaningful empathy for transgender individuals and causes. And, through it all, the story is mystifyingly augmented with a slew of inconsistently timed, largely unremarkable musical production numbers that add precious little to the overall story (they could have been left out entirely and it would likely have made for a more compelling release). In sum, the finished product plays like a preposterously melodramatic Italian opera libretto mixed with elements from pictures like “Sicario” (2015) and any number of cheesy Mexican soap operas. How this cinematic morass has managed to garner as much attention as it has received is truly beyond me. That’s especially true with the many undeserved accolades it has received, including 10 Golden Globe Award nominations (a virtually unheard-of number for any film in this awards competition), as well as honors from the Critics Choice Awards, the American Film Institute, and numerous film festivals, including the prestigious events in Cannes and Toronto. Indeed, don’t be fooled into thinking that the blend of diverse elements here should be taken for inventive, inspired originality. But, more importantly, don’t waste your time on this celluloid trash, despite how allegedly elegant the Emperor’s outfits are said to be.
Is _Emilia Pérez_ the riskiest movie in years?
A Spanish-language musical from a French director, about gendered violence and corruption, starring a transgender actress as a Mexican cartel boss who abandons his family, vanishes into hiding and transitions to become a woman.
It's A LOT. And yes, the film has drawn some criticism. But it’s obvious that the soul of _Emilia Pérez_ beats with the daring of a curious artist who prizes emotional authenticity above all else.
Could you give up your own family to live as your true self? How much can a person change at their core? Does the 'wolf' remain a wolf? While director Jacques Audiard doesn’t claim to have the answers, what’s clear is the film's unquestionable passion. _Emilia Pérez_ is a pure force; designed to grab us by the hearts and minds and wow us.
Read our full take on _Emilia Pérez_ at good.film: https://good.film/guide/why-emilia-perez-is-the-riskiest-movie-youve-seen-in-years
How is it a white Irish-American can speak better Spanish than the Spanish speakers in this train wreck?
And.... a musical with "penis" and "vagina" as the lyrics as it pushes gender transitions?
What we have is an insult to Spanish speakers, an insult that pushes the Latinx concept that most Latino's reject, and then pushes the they/them that lost Kamala the race... so of course it has 13 Academy Award nominations.
But the nominations don't mean it's any good. It's crap, it's a really bad movie and I feel horrible for the native Spanish speakers that this movie mocks and belittles.
But of course it's going to get a boatload of nominations, it's woke AF. So woke, it's another box office bomb.
'Emilia Pérez' is a film that I feel like shouldn't work, yet I did actually have a positive two hours+ viewing it. The musical pieces do take some getting used to and I'm not entirely convinced by most of them, but again somehow it didn't overly bother me whilst watching.
There's no doubt, for me, that the greatest part of this is Zoe Saldaña. I've seen her in many roles before and I love her in those, especially 'Avatar' and even in a tiny 'Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl' role, but I'd say this is her best performance from the 11 movies that I've seen from her. Outstanding!
I also enjoyed those behind Saldaña, namely Karla Sofía Gascón and Selena Gomez; I watched the latter in 2012's 'Spring Breakers' a few weeks back, her acting has improved impressively. I do think if the cast weren't as strong as they are, I may have liked this much less.
I'm only now seeing all the furore about this film, that Wikipedia article makes for quite the reading - what a mess! This is why I like switching off the noise, even if it does make me feel like that meme where that guy calmly eats his food while a brawl breaks out around him.
