The films impressive opening number drops you into a world of corruption and chaos.
Emilia Perezis in theaters now and on Netflix November 13.
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Jacques Audiards genre-melding noir musical,Emilia Perez, opens with a plea.
It is both a rap and a power ballad, an orchestral anthem and a techno remix.
What is it that were talking about today, right now?
she talk-sings, as a chorus begins to echo her words.
Were talking about violence, about love, about death, about a country that is suffering.
It is more than a closing argument.
Its the birth of the movie, says Clement Ducol, the songs composer.
And, tonally, it was important to set a standard.
1.Bring Mexico City to Paris
1.
Some of his concerns were practical.
It was useful to not have to worry about background noise in musical numbers, for instance.
But re-creating the open-air market, known as atianguis,posed some problems.
Twelve Mexican dancers were flown in and reappear through the scene.
2.Give Rita a Theme Song
2.
The Alegato scene, though, was always going to be a musical number.
For the lyrics, Camille integrated the legal jargon that would typically go into a closing argument.
Shes denouncing corruption, and shes corrupted, says Camille.
Her singing is still meant to seduce a corrupted audience.
Spanish was its own challenge.
Camille isnt a native speaker, but Jacques didnt even ask me any questions, she says.
He said, Do you want to do the lyrics?
and I said yes.
He didnt ask me, Are you sure it’s possible for you to write in Spanish?
What level have you got?
Dont you want to take courses?
3.Let the Actors Move Their Way
3.
It was up to Jalet, who worked onSuspiriaand with Madonna, to determine which songs even featured dance.
El Alegato, in particular, required intense care.
The body language is harsh, angular, almost defensive: an energy of resistance, says Jalet.
For Rita, theres a wryness marking every motion.
4.Make It Look Like One Shot
4.
El Alegato was the first scene they filmed once production got underway in April 2023.
So if you are shooting a western, you start with a gang fight.
If youre shooting a musical, you start with the piece that will require the greatest amount of energy.
Once on set, Jalet had to teach the Steadicam operator the same exact movements.
We are all very ambitious, Audiard says.
And I could say pretentious, but lets just stick with ambitious.
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