An original musical about a cartel leader starting over as a woman.
Sometimes I like to think that songs can come in the form of conversations. Meaning that they are singing, but it also sounds like they’re talking, especially when the beat comes in. I was thinking about my theory when I was watching “Emilia Perez,” which is a Spanish musical made for Netflix by French filmmaker Jacques Audiard. So, I guess this would be a French and Spanish film.
The Spanish language, with Camille’s lyrics, wakes us up with the characters and what they want out of life. You also have Zoe Saldana as a lawyer, Karla Sofia Gascon as a transgender cartel boss, and Selena Gomez as his wife. And they’re all directed with style by Audiard. So don’t expect any Gamora make-up or Neytiri green suits from Saldana. Expect her and Gascon delivering radiant work in a film that uses music to bring out the horrors of the life of a cartel and what his/her new identity comes out of it.
The lawyer is Rita Mora Castro, who is so unappreciated in her position, that she’s willing to help the cartel boss Manitas Del Monte find the best surgeon in Tel Aviv to finish his sex change operation. Gascon plays him as both a man with a beard and a fat suit, and as a woman who looks like a man who transitioned into the opposite sex. The reason is because in 2018, in her autobiography “Karsia: Una historia extraordinaria,” she came out as a transwoman. Ergo, she delivers as the cartel leader changes his identity from Del Monte to Emilia Perez.
And Gomez is Del Monte’s wife Jessi, who doesn’t know about her husband’s sex change operation and must relocate with their two kids to Switzerland, as they think a rival cartel killed him. Even the news reports that, so it’s the perfect way for Emilia to be born as a completely different person.
There’s a lot for me to digest as I was watching the film, without giving too much away. As Emilia continues her new identity, she starts an organization dedicated to finding cartel victims, and struggles to keep custody of her kids. That’s obviously difficult considering that she’s supposed to be Del Monte’s cousin. And regarding the organization, her new identity prevents people from knowing that he was a cartel leader himself. So, we can cut back on the public outcries.
There’s a subplot regarding Jessi’s new love (Edgar Ramirez), which isn’t focused as much as the sex change story is, but there’s a lot to unpack within the film. It deals with how one unappreciated lawyer can find herself with new grounds, new companions, and dangerous territories. And believe me, there will be guns and cops involved. But mostly, we’re able to see this film from a completely different perspective.
As a Spanish film, I was reminded of Pedro Almodovar’s “The Skin I Live in,” which was about a surgeon turning a young man into a complete replicate of his dead wife. It was presented as a horror film for men, especially when it involves rape unfortunately. But “Emilia Pérez” doesn’t care about that disgusting subject matter nor about much of the violence. It allows us to see a transgender story through the eyes of a cartel leader, and never having seen the trailer for this film, I never would have thought about that.
I’ve mentioned how perfect Saldana and Gascon are in their roles, whether they’re singing, talking, or maybe even both based on my theory in the first paragraph. And Gomez, who is mostly seen in American movies and shows (including her recent success on Hulu’s “Only Murders in the Building”), displays her emotions with commitment. Audiard does an impressive job taking his filmmaking in a different genre, and with Camille’s lyrics and Clement Ducol’s score, he sure knows a good beat when he sees one. Ole!
Now Playing in Select Theaters
Streaming on Netflix November 13