JACQUES AUDIARD'S genre-melding noir musical, Emilia Pérez, opens with a plea. Zoe Saldaña as Rita, a jaded defense attorney for white-collar criminals, is writing her closing argument, asking the jury to exonerate her client, a corrupt bureaucrat accused of pushing his wife off a balcony. But the following musical number, a grand procession through the streets of Mexico City, also functions as a plea to the viewer-to buy in, to accept the film's idiosyncratic world, one where Rita quickly gets entangled with a drug lord (Karla Sofía Gascón) seeking genderaffirming surgery. "From day one, there was this understanding that if we didn't manage to make that scene convincing," says choreographer Damien Jalet, "we would lose the audience."
Zoe Saldaña performing "El Alegato."
Like the rest of the film, which "ranges from being a telenovela to a narco movie to a family drama," says Audiard, the songcalled "El Alegato," which translates to plea-doesn't fit cleanly into any category. It is both a rap and a power ballad, an orchestral anthem and a techno remix. "This fucker kills his wife," Rita begins in an almost ominous whisper, typing at her desk, her face lit by a screen airing coverage of ongoing protests against femicide, "and we allege suicide."
Bu hikaye New York magazine dergisinin November 04-17, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye New York magazine dergisinin November 04-17, 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
Verily, Are the Kids All Right?
A Romeo and Juliet production that's all (vape) smoke and shimmer.
Masterpieces, Then and Now
The Met reunites Siena Renaissance paintings for the first time in centuries.
Heritage Regained
A fantastical documentary follows the return of 26 plundered artworks to Benin.
Emilia Pérez States Its Case Right Away
The film's impressive opening number drops you into a world of corruption and chaos.
WHEN KYLIE JENNER WRITES A NOVEL
Celebrities occasionally like to try their hand at fiction. But who’s really the author?
Emily Watson Is in Charge
The double Oscar nominee grew up in a cultlike organization. Acting became her way out of it.
RESTAURANT REVIEW: Everyone's Eating at Bridges
Manhattan's hottest restaurant doesn't play it safe.
Upstairs From His Favorite Italian Restaurant
Ryan Lawson designs other people’s places differently from how he did his own Village apartment.
165 MINUTES WITH...Mike and Kiki Tyson
After a near-death experience, the boxer is preparing, his wife by his side, for his big fight against Jake Paul.
Neighborhood News: Attention, Satmar Shoppers
At Williamsburg's W Mall, a milchig food court and refuge for weary mothers.