18/20
Emilia Perez follows four extraordinary women in Mexico, each in search of her own happiness. Cartel leader Emilia enlists Rita, an under-appreciated lawyer, to help her fake her death so she can finally live authentically as her true self. Karla Sofia Gascon talks about the two years of preparation it took for this demanding role in Jacques Audiard’s film, and the two extremes of her own personality she had to play as Emilia and Manitas. Jacques Audiard said he was inspired for the idea of the musical by a chapter in a novel about a drug lord who longs to change his identity. A French title card misspells the Indian city as « Dehli. » Wasserman: So. Does your client have a name? Featured in Latino Slant: La Bamba Remake, Tarantino Has a BIG Mouth, Jenna’s SPICE and Selena Surprises! (2024). The PleaWritten by Camille (as C. Dalmais), Clément Ducol and Jacques AudiardStarring Zoe SaldanaA fairly enjoyable film with two demanding lead roles and two supporting roles that require excellent performers. The first two are played by Zoe Saldaña and Karla Sofia Gascón, the second two by Selena Gomez and Adriana Paz. This quartet shared the Best Actress award at Cannes 2024. They deserved it. Saldaña in particular is a revelation.Of writer-director Jacques Audiard’s previous films, I’ve seen four (The Beating of My Heart Has Stopped, A Prophet, Rust and Bone and The Sisters Brothers), each memorable in its own way. None of them prepared me for this one, so kudos to him for not getting stuck in the genre rut.There’s a lot of story and a lot of singing in Emilia Pérez. When the singing is combined with Damien Jalet’s incisive choreography, the effect is thrilling. Otherwise, the songs drag the movie down. They are light musicals, they don’t go deep, so they don’t live up to the dramatic demands placed on them. They are at their best in the rap-inclined numbers, where the beat is the most important element. Emilia Perez’s moral seems to be that we can never let go of the past, change who we are or what we want. It’s an oddly bleak vision to present in a musical.