The newest hidden gem to fall onto the lap of every Netflix subscriber around the world takes shape through Jacques Audiard's newest musical/thriller, 'Emilia Perez'.
The story of 'Emilia Perez' follows the life of a woman in her mid-30's, who at the start of her journey, finds herself at a crossroads. Rita Mora, played by Zoe Saldana, is an over-performing yet underpaid attorney who feels as though she has spent too much time prioritising the wrong things in her life so far, and wonders when she will finally begin to reap some of the rewards of doing so.
On the night she is introduced to the leader of a notorious drug cartel, Rita is offered an opportunity that could see an end to this low-point in her journey and flip the trajectory of her life on it's head for good. An opportunity that would order her to play a pivotal role in executing a smooth and discrete transition sex change from male to female for her new employer, Manitas Del Monte, the leader of Mexico City's largest drug cartel.
Resulting in the birth of Emilia Perez.
The most notable and certainly the most memorable aspect of this film takes shape through Zoe Saldana's career-best performance as Rita Mora, the struggling defense attorney who decides to embark on a career change that would change the life of many people forever.
For the past 15 years, audiences have familiarised themselves with seeing Saldana either as a blood-thirsty assassin covered in green from head to toe or as Neytiri, the feisty yet wholehearted princess of the Na'vi clan in James Cameron's 'Avatar' - this time covered in blue from head to toe.
But in 'Emilia Perez' fans have access to a whole new side of Saldana's acting ability as she excels in performing a wise selection of amazing musical sequences, as well as delivers a countless amount of dramatic scenes that contribute to the overall thickness of the story.
And whilst Karla Sofia Gascón and Selena Gomez both impress and arguably both provide career-best performances in this film, it is Saldana that wins the hearts of the audience members and certainly places herself in strong contention for a maiden Academy Award nomination for when the season begins.
Audiard's way of utilising the musical numbers in this film to contribute to the story as well as provide a range of various character perspectives on the major plot points is nothing short of excellent. Whilst all of the songs are delivered exceptionally from the different members of the ensemble, each number serves as a pivotal player in contributing towards the storyline and adding depth to the situations that the characters find themselves in.
And considering each song is written and delivered in the Spanish native language, for someone who isn't bilingual, they are still quite catchy and enjoyable to listen along to.
There always seems to be a huge question mark hovering over the head of films that deem themselves as musicals and whether their musical numbers actually serve their purpose of progressing the story. And whilst this isn't always the case for musicals throughout recent years in cinema, 'Emilia Perez' does a great job at doing so.
This film also does an exceptional job at involving a handful of important and thought-provoking themes. The main theme that stands out amongst it's peers is the idea of identity, and how a lack of it can result in mass destruction to not only our own personal lives, but the dramatic impact on others.
The character of Emilia Perez is someone who constantly struggles with a lack of identity throughout. She knows who she wants to be, but her entangled emotions with her past life and her ways of involving them in her new found way of living do not go well together.
And when these entanglement issues between her various identities cross over, this can only result in one thing for herself as well as the people she loves most - chaos.
'Emilia Perez' is a beautiful and well-crafted thriller that makes great use of it's musical numbers that play a pivotal role in driving the storyline forwards. There are a handful of important and hard-hitting themes involved with the story of 'Emilia Perez', which ultimately are contributing factors to a brilliant film.
PrimeTime Films Score: B
Comments