I personally loved emilia perez i found the third act to be a little rushed but it got me at the edge of my seat can't wait for the ladies to get some love during awards season
@moviehusbands - I love witnessing “star is born” performances, and we’re seeing exactly that with Gascon in Emilia Perez. People can keep their talk about Glen Powell. I also found the film electrifying and provocative - it’s *alive* in ways films very rarely are these days. But my favorite thing about was how it takes the enormous apparition of horror that is decades of people being disappeared in the deserts and sprawl of Mexico, how it takes the collective psychic trauma of that reality - and seeks to recover it, seeks to restore it, to seed hope and renewal and closure from nightmarish mystery. As a result, the film feels like a work of conscience to me, its songs reminding us that the reflective interiority in what is sung can sometimes reveal truths more clearly than what is spoken. We somehow now live in a world where people want - *need* - films to align with their own views of what they think a given story should be, instead of meeting those films on the terms they set. I went into this looking to have Audiard present me with his vision, not prepared for two hours of progressive box-ticking, hoping that the movie would do what I, as a liberal or trans ally, think it should do. And I found Audiard’s vision thrilling and rapturous and moral.
@@OldBluesChapterandVerse I see it now. I think this is a very thoughtful reaction. I was rethinking my own reaction to the film after watching Kermode's review where he said he felt the constraints of cinema being liberated, which is an interesting reversal of my issues with the film
The depiction of Mexico isnt bad. As a Mexican i am not mad at it. The acting itself is good. The story is at least interesting, what gets me is having Zoe be Dominican and no very clearly indicate that she is and is now living in Mexico and working there as a lawyer and it isnt dawning on anyone that is what is happening. There are black people in mexico she could have played a true mexican, by getting the accent right , but i feel like this movie did not make the efford to cast any mexicans as the main characters or give the actors the time to sound and feel mexican. Selena is supposed to be a mexican american women that still cannot speak spanish fluently even after living in mexico for years, just give the girl more time to get it right. The lady playing Epifania is the only mexican actress in the cast and she does an amazing job. I think from the mexican audience she is the only that makes sense in this story. Everything else feels fake. Like a soap opera by way France. The other issue i have with it is that the main character is one of the most violent man turn trans women. The trans part is not the issue, the issue is that i am supposed to believe that a men that has inflicted so much violence and death and was probably one creating many of the death and missing of my country has a sudden chance of heart and now wants to help people find their missing death. The story just didnt give me enough to belive the change. Just didnt.
I am right there with you both that this felt like a disjointed and at times hallow shadow of what could have been. I was never bored, but there was also never anything to really latch onto beyond a serious of feel good issues that are important to give voice to. But none of them are given the time they deserve with the depth required for complex topics. At times it felt like a French guy explaining the horrors of that land way over there, removed in a way that simplified and unextroardinary.
Agreed with you that there’s some great acting, the musical numbers are quite good, and lots of intriguing directorial choices. However, the script is just way too jam packed and can’t give enough depth to any of its themes that it’s just ends up fumbling most of them. Certainly lots of great scenes to rewatch individually on UA-cam, but probably wouldn’t ever rewatch the whole thing.
The movie is deeply disrespectful. You can’t simply turn an ongoing war-a living nightmare for an entire country-into a musical. To make matters worse, the director didn’t bother to research the lifestyle or context of Mexico. It would be a huge mistake for this film to even receive an Oscar nomination.
Liked it more than you guys but pretty much in agreement. The characters relationships all feel undercooked- Gascon Gomezs relationship feels like an afterthought the whole film then the finale focuses on it so much. The lengths Saldanas character went for Perez in the end seems pretty weird, when did the big change happen?! Surprised how surface level gender dysphoria part was as well (outside an excellent number). Great acting and music but just didn’t have the substance! Tad surprised in the Oscar convo.
I really enjoyed the movie, particularly Gascon's amazing performance.
I loved it! It is so thrilling & unexpected. I was stunned by Gascon, a force of nature in a magnificent lead performance!
I had reservations about the film but I completely agree with your on Gascon.
There you go, it's this Oscar season high profile divisive movie!
I personally loved emilia perez
i found the third act to be a little rushed but it got me at the edge of my seat
can't wait for the ladies to get some love during awards season
It pole-vaulted into the #1 spot on my 2024 top 10 list and is the first 2024 release I’ve seen to which I’ve given a 10/10.
Interesting! What did you like about it?
@moviehusbands - I love witnessing “star is born” performances, and we’re seeing exactly that with Gascon in Emilia Perez. People can keep their talk about Glen Powell. I also found the film electrifying and provocative - it’s *alive* in ways films very rarely are these days. But my favorite thing about was how it takes the enormous apparition of horror that is decades of people being disappeared in the deserts and sprawl of Mexico, how it takes the collective psychic trauma of that reality - and seeks to recover it, seeks to restore it, to seed hope and renewal and closure from nightmarish mystery. As a result, the film feels like a work of conscience to me, its songs reminding us that the reflective interiority in what is sung can sometimes reveal truths more clearly than what is spoken. We somehow now live in a world where people want - *need* - films to align with their own views of what they think a given story should be, instead of meeting those films on the terms they set. I went into this looking to have Audiard present me with his vision, not prepared for two hours of progressive box-ticking, hoping that the movie would do what I, as a liberal or trans ally, think it should do. And I found Audiard’s vision thrilling and rapturous and moral.
@@moviehusbands I wrote out a long response to your question. Hit send, and it showed up, and then I edited it, and it disappeared.
@@OldBluesChapterandVerse I see it now. I think this is a very thoughtful reaction. I was rethinking my own reaction to the film after watching Kermode's review where he said he felt the constraints of cinema being liberated, which is an interesting reversal of my issues with the film
The depiction of Mexico isnt bad. As a Mexican i am not mad at it. The acting itself is good. The story is at least interesting, what gets me is having Zoe be Dominican and no very clearly indicate that she is and is now living in Mexico and working there as a lawyer and it isnt dawning on anyone that is what is happening. There are black people in mexico she could have played a true mexican, by getting the accent right , but i feel like this movie did not make the efford to cast any mexicans as the main characters or give the actors the time to sound and feel mexican. Selena is supposed to be a mexican american women that still cannot speak spanish fluently even after living in mexico for years, just give the girl more time to get it right. The lady playing Epifania is the only mexican actress in the cast and she does an amazing job. I think from the mexican audience she is the only that makes sense in this story. Everything else feels fake. Like a soap opera by way France.
The other issue i have with it is that the main character is one of the most violent man turn trans women. The trans part is not the issue, the issue is that i am supposed to believe that a men that has inflicted so much violence and death and was probably one creating many of the death and missing of my country has a sudden chance of heart and now wants to help people find their missing death. The story just didnt give me enough to belive the change. Just didnt.
I am right there with you both that this felt like a disjointed and at times hallow shadow of what could have been. I was never bored, but there was also never anything to really latch onto beyond a serious of feel good issues that are important to give voice to. But none of them are given the time they deserve with the depth required for complex topics. At times it felt like a French guy explaining the horrors of that land way over there, removed in a way that simplified and unextroardinary.
Agreed with you that there’s some great acting, the musical numbers are quite good, and lots of intriguing directorial choices. However, the script is just way too jam packed and can’t give enough depth to any of its themes that it’s just ends up fumbling most of them. Certainly lots of great scenes to rewatch individually on UA-cam, but probably wouldn’t ever rewatch the whole thing.
The movie is deeply disrespectful. You can’t simply turn an ongoing war-a living nightmare for an entire country-into a musical. To make matters worse, the director didn’t bother to research the lifestyle or context of Mexico. It would be a huge mistake for this film to even receive an Oscar nomination.
Liked it more than you guys but pretty much in agreement. The characters relationships all feel undercooked- Gascon Gomezs relationship feels like an afterthought the whole film then the finale focuses on it so much. The lengths Saldanas character went for Perez in the end seems pretty weird, when did the big change happen?!
Surprised how surface level gender dysphoria part was as well (outside an excellent number). Great acting and music but just didn’t have the substance! Tad surprised in the Oscar convo.