By Jake Coyle, Film Writer
CANNES, France (AP) --On paper, Jacques Audiard's buzzed-about Cannes Film Festival entry "Emilia Perez" would not seem anything like a good idea for a movie.
The film, which premiered Saturday in Cannes, is probably the first movie that can sincerely be compared to both "Sicario" and "Mrs. Doubtfire" — and that's just a start.
Zoe SaldaƱa stars as Rita, a Mexico City lawyer hired by the cartel kingpin Manitas to help him flee Mexico for gender confirmation surgery. This turns out to be the beginning of a relationship that will continue between Rita and Emilia Perez (Karla SofĆa GascĆ³n). Emilia returns years later, posing as Manitas' sister, to stay close to her children who are living with her ex-wife (Selena Gomez).
Also, it's a musical.
As gonzo as its premise may be, or possibly because of it, "Emilia Perez" gave Cannes a mid-festival jolt. Though not every critic has swooned for its melodramatic grandeur, there was applause even after the film's press screening.
"It occurred to me as a kind of opera," Audiard told reporters Sunday.
Audiard, the protean French filmmaker of "A Prophet," "Rust and Bone" and the 2015 Cannes Palme d'Or winner "Dheepan," said the idea first occurred to him while reading a novel with a chapter about a narco trafficker who wanted to change his identity. From that starting point, Audiard built a shifting narrative worthy of a telenovela.
"To get into this kind of film by Jacques, you have to be like Jacques, who's a bit mad," said GascĆ³n, laughing.
While the film boasts a pair of well-known stars in Gomez and SaldaƱa, GascĆ³n is the revelation of the movie. The 52-year-old GascĆ³n, who is trans, plays both the ruthless Manitas, with a grill covering his teeth, and the benevolent, bubbly Emilia. The two roles have strikingly physical presences.
"It was difficult at first. I didn't want to play the part of Manitas. I only wanted to play the part of Emilia. It took several months for me to convince myself that I could do both," said GascĆ³n. "At one point, we didn't know who would be playing the two characters and then it became quite obvious that it would be me."
Audacious as "Emilia Perez" may sound, it comes off remarkably sincerely. The film, pondering questions of personal change, follows Rita and Emilia across years and multiple countries. The songs are penned by French pop musician Camille; ClƩment Docul does the score; and Gomez gets a moment at the microphone at a karaoke bar.
GascĆ³n on Sunday said she hoped Emilia would be seen as not just a trans character.
"Trans people should be treated like just anybody else. I'm not better or worse than anyone else. I think we should be taken for what we are," said GascĆ³n. "We have our body and we're allowed to change it because we want to."
The narrative leaps and tonal juxtapositions of "Emilia Perez" may be a lot for some, but for Audiard, that was much of the attraction.
"Something shocks me deeply in Mexico — all these problems of missing people. There are whole regions you can't go because they aren't safe," said the director. "I wanted to make a musical. So why not against the background of a tragedy?"
SCHROM x Yacht Club and Be Electric Studios Launch Electric XR for Virtual Production
SCHROM x Yacht Club, a full-service live-action, tabletop, and postproduction company, has teamed with Be Electric Studios, a soundstage, equipment rental, and virtual production company, to launch Electric XR, a virtual production collective.
Industry veteran Thomas Rossano will lead the new venture, which provides advanced virtual production solutions across multiple facilities. He brings over 25 years of experience in live-action, tabletop, postproduction and talent curation to enhance Electric XRās offerings as a resource for brands and agencies, as well as other production companies in need of virtual production solutions. Additionally Rossano continues to serve as EP at XR New York (XR-NY), a role heās held since December 2022. SCHROM x Yacht Club originally established XR-NY to help provide XR services for third-party rentals. While XR-NY will continue to function independently for SCHROM X Yacht Club, it now operates under the Electric XR umbrella.
Rossanoās expertise spans producing live-action commercials, branded content, interactive and experiential content. In addition to leading Electric XR, he holds responsibilities at SCHROM x Yacht Club which include driving business development, collaborating with sales reps and expanding the companyās creative talent network. Rossanoās career includes serving as an exec producer at Hungry Man for about 11 years, right from that companyās inception. He then went on to become a partner at Station Film where he also had a lengthy tenure. Later he was a partner at PRISM. Then after the pandemic hit, he became a freelance EP for nearly two years, looking into opportunities in virtual production, which led him to XR NY and now Electric XR. Over the years, he has produced high-profile... Read More