“Emilia Perez,” December 2, 2024, Netflix, Musical, Spanish with subtitles. First the obvious: I haven’t reviewed a movie here for one heck of a long time – six months plus. I was badly injured in a bicycle accident in which my pelvis was fractured in three places. Healing is still going on. The process is incredibly slow. Months of bedrest led, for all intents and purposes, to both my legs atrophying or falling asleep. Months on a walker has been followed by months on a cane. I cannot walk without one or the other. I hope that my PT and exercise will enable me to return to walking without the assistance of these tools. Although I did not break my knees in the crash, the injury has exacerbated existing knee problems. My doctor calls it post-traumatic arthritis. I would really like to avoid knee replacements after I finally return to walking. I think it’s now on the one-year plan. Anyway, that’s a short journey through my last half year.
What a way to come back to this project! “Emilia Perez” is Jacques Audiard’s remarkably inventive film, mixing excellent musical/dance numbers with a intense and fascinating story of transformation accomplished but never fully realized. A Mexican attorney, Rita (Zoe Saldana) is contacted by Manitas, a drug lord, (played by Karla Maria Gascon) who wishes to become a woman. Rita arranges for this secret transformation and the future of Emilia’s wife (Selena Gomez) and children. Emilia, also played by Gascon –who is herself transgendered–who emerges is different than her male self. Or is she? This is a real work of art, a real study of identity. It lays bare the losses from Mexico’s drug wars at the same time it presents characters transformed in their wake. It is a remarkable story and film. All the acting is superb. See this one.