[Slate] From Criminal to Social Activist... Was the Turning Point Gender Transition?

The film 'Emilia Perez' is a story about cleansing past sins and saving others. Manitas (Carla Sofia Gascon), the leader of a Mexican drug cartel, dreams of living as a woman. With the help of lawyer Rita (Zoe Saldana), she undergoes gender reassignment surgery and begins a new life as a woman named Emilia Perez.

Movie 'Emilia Perez' Still Cut

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Four years later, she approaches Rita again, asking to be reunited with her ex-wife and children, whom she believes to be dead. Rita deceives Perez by telling her she is a relative of Manitas and orchestrates an unusual cohabitation. Feeling a sense of stability, Perez establishes a nonprofit organization and sets out to find people who have gone missing due to drug-related crimes.

Director Jacques Audiard wrote the screenplay inspired by a transgender drug dealer character from Boris Lazon's novel 'Ecoute'. The film weaves themes of love and betrayal, death and resurrection, atonement and salvation into a blend of crime, romance, and drama genres.

To minimize the risk of a disjointed narrative caused by the fast pace, the film incorporates musical elements. Songs are placed in sequences where the genre shifts or explanations are needed to reduce the sense of incongruity. However, the lack of consistency in the songs and dances results in a less smooth progression. Some musical scenes even give the impression of plagiarizing Leos Carax's 'Annette' (2021).

Movie 'Emilia Perez' Still Cut

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In musical films, songs are mainly used to deepen the story or convey emotions. In 'Emilia Perez', the emphasis is more on speeding up the plot or explaining characters.

A representative example is the song 'La Vaginoplastia' in the scene where Rita talks with a gender reassignment surgeon in Bangkok, Thailand. The doctor continuously explains how the surgery is performed in rhythm. "Nice to meet you. I want to know about gender reassignment surgery." "Understood. Understood. Understood. From male to female, female to male, penis to vagina."

In the following scenes, gender reassignment surgery is depicted like cosmetic surgery, and people who undergo the operation for survival are portrayed comically through chorus and dance. This raises suspicion that the transgender theme is used merely as a tool for entertainment.

Movie 'Emilia Perez' Still Cut

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'Emilia Perez' has a loose storyline as much as its direction lacks depth. It fails to penetrate the thematic consciousness of atonement and salvation, instead circling around it. This is largely due to the superficial portrayal of Perez’s transformation from a criminal responsible for numerous deaths to a social activist. The film rushes to show a tragic ending without any incidents or turning points that explain her previously ruthless nature.

Carla Sofia Gascon’s acting rarely reveals human anguish. Especially in scenes where she warmly embraces families of drug crime victims, there is no trace of guilt or discomfort. Who has forgiven her past wrongdoings? Is gender reassignment a pardon?

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