Warning: a serious contender for the Palme d’Or. French director Jacques Audiard reinvents the musical comedy genre with this incredible feature, in which a Mexican cartel boss does everything in his power to become a woman.
You know, you’ve probably felt it before. Sometimes, all it takes is one scene to make you say: “Holy shit, this is a great movie!” That’s what happened when Jacques Audiard nailed us to our seats with this cover of the French singer Georges Brassens by a Latin American brass band.
The award-winning director electrified the Croisette with Emilia Pérez, a feature-length film that reinvents the musical comedy genre. The pitch? A Mexican cartel boss decides to undergo a sex change to become a woman, a dream he’s had since childhood. It’s a post-mafia redemption… except that the demons of the past are never far away, threatening to resurface at any moment.
It has to be said, Jacques Audiard has taken on a crazy challenge here. On paper, everything was there to break his teeth. But almost everything in this film rings true: he, who has sometimes been criticized for a certain “male gaze”, manages to find the necessary balance to evoke subjects as daunting as trans-identity. Perhaps it’s Léa Mysius‘ touch, who collaborated on the screenplay. And the soundtrack – composed by singer Camille and her partner, arranger Clément Ducol – is wildly inventive. A (very) likely Palme d’Or, or Jury Prize.
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