Crazy ‘Emilia Pérez’ sure to leave you awe-struck
Is it enough for a movie to simply be audacious? In the case of the opulent, enthralling, totally bananas “Emilia Pérez,” the answer is a resounding, YES!
Springing from the wildly creative mind of French writer-director Jacques Audiard (“A Prophet”), the Netflix offering willfully throws a hodgepodge of ideas at the wall and appears almost as surprised as we are that everything sticks. It fixes just as firmly in the minds of viewers asked to process dozens of ideas and concepts about everything from sexual identity to atonement and a person’s inability to shake their true nature no matter how hard they try.
There’s so much here to praise it’s hard to know where to begin. But let’s start with the stellar work by its triumvirate of stars led by certain Oscar contender Karla Sofía Gascón in the dual role of Mexican cartel boss Manitas Del Monte, who in the vein of Michael Corleone seeks to forever relinquish his criminal past by “disappearing” and transitioning into his “true self,” Emilia Pérez, a woman of elegance and benevolence.
It’s a marvel how convincing Gascón can be both as a man and a woman. Yes, Dustin Hoffman, Robin Williams, Jack Lemmon, and Tony Curtis, among many others, have achieved comparable triumphs portraying both sexes. But Gascón takes it to a loftier level, not just singing and dancing, but enlightening dissenters on how gender-affirming care is far more than a political talking point. It’s an essential means of escape from the physical prison that forces one to conform to something they are not.
What’s sad is that few have the ways and readily available resources Emilia enjoys to blossom into the butterfly she longs to become. She also has the assistance of a flustered Mexico City attorney bearing the emotional scars from banging her head against the glass ceiling so often she’s willing to screw it all to become Manitas’ extremely well-paid consigliere. It’s a role Zoe Saldaña seizes hold of and runs with, rendering her Rita Moro Castro, Esq., just as desperate for change as Manitas, who summons her the only way he knows how, by having his henchmen kidnap Rita off a street corner and drag her to his office inside the back of a semi-trailer truck.
It is there that Audiard sets the plot in motion, incorporating an odd blend of drama and musical comedy that his actors – including a never-better Selena Gomez as the kept mother of Manitas’ two young children – go all in to make work. There are times when the song and dance bits falter, but they are always engaging and representative of Audiard’s intrepid approach. He’s not just attempting to send a message; he’s determined to entertain you with the zaniest of soap opera tropes.
The one constant is the inescapable truth that – good or evil – you cannot alter who you are inside. Take it from the surgeon (Mark Ivanir) who transforms Manitas into Emilia: You can modify the skin and bones, but you cannot change the soul. That becomes evident in a third-act reckoning when Audiard jarringly reminds us that the past frequently catches up with you.
For a good portion of the movie, Emilia and Rita endeavor to prove otherwise by becoming advocates for victims of Mexico’s disappeared persons, many missing at the hands of ruthless cartels like the one Emilia ran in her previous life. She thinks she’s helping people, but she’s merely helping herself in her struggle to quell a persistent gnawing conscience, the last stubborn obstacle on her journey from sinner to saint. You root for her to get there, but Audiard also asks us to determine if she deserves it in the aftermath of the heartbreak and death she inflicted as Manitas.
It’s quite an arc that Audiard has devised for his title character, as her maternal instincts often clash with her ruthless killer tendencies. The film’s catchy tunes reflect this dichotomy – loopy and comical at first, dark and sullen by the end. What these numbers share is a verve and dedication to underscoring that they are beyond mere folly. They are as integral to the telling as the dialogue.
Many, I’m sure, will find it difficult to take seriously, passing it off as the work of an indulgent director unaware of his limits. But I say, look deeper, both into the story and within yourself. What you discover may surprise you. For this is no ordinary crusade for LGBQT+ rights, it’s a reminder of the importance of self-examination. And how we choose to resolve these existential crises makes all the difference.
Movie review
Emilia Pérez
Rated: R for some violent content, sexual material, language
Cast: Zoe Saldaña, Karla Sofía Gascón, Selena Gomez and Adriana Paz
Director: Jacques Audiard
Writer: Jacques Audiard
Runtime: 132 minutes
Where: In theaters and on Netflix
Grade: B+
