“Emilia Pérez, the film is about a trans Mexican Cartel leader who reconciled with her past and received an Academy Awards on Sunday and received 13 nominations, the most of any movie this year. It’s also the most important nod of any non-English language film ever. The film has won several honors, including the Best Comedy or Musical at the Golden Globes Awards.
In Mexico, the reception is exactly the opposite.
It has been widely criticized for its portrayal of the country’s minimum restrictions on cartel violence, destroying many people, with a small number of Mexicans involved in its production.
French writer director Jacques Audiard commented on Spanish, some who think den ruined the language, and its leader Karla Sofía Gascón about Islam and George Floyd, shocked Mexico’s unpopularity and made things worse.
“Emilia Pérez” was not released in the Mexican Theatre until January 23 (five months after its debut in France) and two months after its release in the United States. In Mexico, the theaters that show movies are largely empty. Some unfortunate moviegoers even requested a refund.
On the other hand, an online Mexican short film mimics the roots of France’s “Emilia Perez”. “Emilia Pérez” has been the feed for many social media memes. The families of victims of Mexico’s violence condemned this.
“It has become a real disaster,” said Francisco Peredo Castro, a film expert and professor of history and communications at the National Autonomous University of Mexico.
The main criticism of “Emilia Perez” is that it makes Mexico’s ongoing struggle against organized crime petty. Since the president subsequently declared the war against the cartel in 2006, there have been more than 460,000 homicides. The film is a musical with glittering songs and dance numbers, including lyrics about the body disposed in the acid.
“We should look through things and say, ‘We won’t sing or dance for this topic. According to government data, more than 100,000 people have disappeared in Mexico since 2006, according to government data.
Ms. Belmont wants to know whether Hollywood or European film industry dares to attack on September 11, 2001.
In a press conference before the film was released, Mr. Odiad said he apologized if he had dealt with a delicate subject “too easily”. In a different interview, he said: “The movie does not provide answers; it only asks questions, but maybe the questions in “Emilia Perez” are incorrect. (He also said that he did not learn Mexico before filming the movie.)
Netflix bought the U.S. distribution rights for “Emilia Perez” at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, declined to comment. It recently announced a $1 billion investment to produce series and films in Mexico over the next four years.
Zima Entertainment director David Chelminsky, released in Mexico, said in an interview that he never had such hatred in the country in his career.
“All criticism is valid, but there is a very toxic, very radical criticism that leaves no room for other opinions,” he said. “So people who like this movie or want to see the movie prefer to stay off the field for a while because for anyone out, there are constant attacks on me.”
He suggests xenophobia and transphobia in some criticisms.
Not all Mexicans condemn the film. Guillermo del Toro, a three-time champion at the Oscars, said Mr. Odiad was “one of the most amazing filmmakers to live” and his view of Mexico was “hypnosis and beauty.” Another highly acclaimed Mexican filmmaker, Elisa Miller, said it was “good” to be a Mexican consultant to Mr Audiard.
After a recent show at the Mexico City Theatre, 37-year-old visual designer Alberto Muñoz said he understood the concerns about the film but also appreciated its technical qualities. “It’s an interesting movie,” he said.
But Ms. Belmont’s relative disappeared in Chihuahua, saying she was so upset about it after the movie was played in California during Christmas that she created an online petition in January to stop the rewards and their release in Mexico.
Ms. Belmont said: “The film was successful in terms of people who had not experienced the disappearance.”
While she understands that Mr. Odiad’s defense is novel, Ms. Belmont is also upset about the way Emilia Pérez’s character transforms from becoming the infamous cartel leader to the missing champion.
Critics also have questions about the lack of Mexican talent before and after the camera. “Emilia Pérez” was filmed on the sound stage in France, as Audiard said he prefers controlled environments.
Adriana Paz is the only Mexican performer to play the leading role. When the film’s actor director said the Mexicans were frustrated when the crew searched for actors in Mexico and other Latin American countries and they decided to take the best option, even if they weren’t Mexicans.
Mr. Odiad said they wanted bigger names to be able to fund the film.
The Mexican also pointed to the accent of the leading actress: Dominican American Zoe Saldaña won her performance award and offered the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress; Ms. Gasco from Spain, who lived and acted in Mexico; and Mexican American Selena Gomez worked hard to restore the film’s Spanish fluency. (Ms. Gasco was the first publicly trans actress to be nominated for an Oscar.)
After the famous Mexican actor and film producer Eugenio Derbez called Ms. Gomez’s pronunciation “indisputable,” she apologized, saying, “I do my best in the time I give.”
In Mexico City, some viewers laughed at the recent screening, when the characters of Ms. Saldaña and Ms. Gascón were in spoken Mexican language.
“The dialogue is totally inorganic – what the character says doesn’t make sense,” said Héctor Guillén, 26, a Mexican screenwriter and producer. (Ms. Gasco said she “more than cactus.”)
In view of the controversy over the film, he said: “For several years, the film will be one of the biggest embarrassment in European films.”
But Mr. Peredo Castro, professor, questioned why the rebound against the “Emilia Pérez” was so powerful, believing that the Mexicans had 120-year descriptive value for the Mexicans in “insensitive” and “insulting” ways.
Not only did he point to the “Grease” movies of the early 1900s that featured Mexicans as villains, but the recent musical genres, television shows and performances (scripts and reality) glorified Nalco trafficking. He said the larger American and European film industry often looks at Mexico through painful lenses.
Mr. Peredo Castro said that “Emilia Pérez” was released under President Trump, who repeatedly targeted fentanyl and immigration. He said the criticism “greatly exacerbates Mexico’s sensitivity” because it is a center of concern for violence, drugs and corruption.
In response to “Emilia Pérez,” Mexican transgender content creator Camila Aurora made the short film imitate “Johanne Sacreblu”. It was filmed with Mexican performers on the streets of Mexico City and shot with stereotypical French accents and stereotypical costumes, and it received 3.2 million views on YouTube in a month and released in some theaters.
On the other hand, “Emilia Pérez” attracted audiences. Since Mexico debuted, it has made $832,000 and sold about 210,000 tickets by the end of last weekend, according to the Mexican film industry.
By contrast, Captain America: Brave New World, appeared three weeks later, and sold 2.9 million tickets last weekend.
Ms. Belmont, who produced an online petition for the film, said she had no plans to watch the Oscars, even if she thought it was her Super Bowl, a must-see annual event. This time, she said, “I lost my desire.”
