One thing nobody will ever say about writer-director Jacques Audiard’s audacious and head-spinning and lush and violent and memorable “Emilia Pérez”: Oh, it’s THAT tired old story again. I mean, I’m fairly certain this is the first time I’ve witnessed a cartel-themed redemption musical with an aggressively physical blend of contemporary and modern dance styles and a transgender twist. Based on Audiard’s opera libretto of the same name (which was inspired by Boris Razon’s 2018 novel “Écoute”), this a dark and wild ride that announces its brazen originality from the get-go, with characters often breaking into song and a tone that plays like a mixtape mashup of “Evita” crossed with certain works by Sergio Leone and Pedro Almodóvar and Oliver Stone, with echoes of musicals such as “Hamilton” and “Rent” and even some Busby Berkeley.
If that sounds like “Emilia Pérez” is all over the place and will likely elicit polarizing reactions from viewers, yep, that’s about right. For me, the fever-dream production numbers and the soul-stirring performances by a magnificent cast lead by Zoë Saldaña, Karla Sofia Gascón and Selena Gomez were more than enough to compensate for some whiplash-inducing turns of plot and a borderline soppy denouement. As invaluable as Zoë Saldaña’s contributions have been to the “Guardians of the Galaxy” and “Avatar” blockbuster franchises, I’m an even bigger fan of her grounded work in rough-edged.
