Breathe
By Areli Paz
Emilia Pérez: strident, uncomfortable and cinematographically well-done musical.
Art: physical, olfactory, graphic, auditory or sensory expression that seeks to awaken our senses.
Discomfort: feeling that something does not add up, discomfort, pain, anguish, doubt. Why does something not add up? The answer lies in the explanation.
I'm not going to tell you what to like and what not to like. Freedom of thought and emotion is something that no one should interfere with.
I am not a film critic, I love cinema and since I was a child I have learned to enjoy it from all its angles, flavors, stories and characters.
Cinema is the context of an era, it leaves traces of the excesses, anguish, politics, culture and emotions of certain moments of a society, hence the importance of cinematographic art.
It's not just entertainment, the stories must tell something of historical moments, mythical or dreamy, whatever the script, the film must provoke emotions, whatever they are, and if something makes you angry, upset, distressed, makes you laugh or enraged, that film has achieved its goal. Whether it's bad or good for the world, you decide how you categorize it in your life.
There are only a few days left until the film Emilia Perez opens in Mexico. It is interesting how a story of criticism has been woven around small tik tok clips, Emilia Perez should be seen in its entirety, in context and with a clear mind that what you are going to see has tinges of reality and fiction. More fiction, more reality? In the end, each viewer, according to his or her own stories, will put it in the appropriate box.
From the victims Emilia Perez barely uses a story to redeem herself.
From one country, it is impossible to portray a reality of many realities of violence and pain.
From a psychological point of view, the overwhelmed women in the tape are victims of their own circumstances.
From language, we all communicate as we can, as we learn, as we want and as life strikes us.
Since the crime, reality surely overcomes the stridency of Emilia's echoes.
I had the opportunity to talk a few hours ago with Karla Sofia Gascon, whom I know and of whom I am proud of her friendship, respect and affection.
What is back and forth.
I asked him what he thought of the fierce criticism, and if time will give reason to the awards, disqualifications or applause, he replied: "It is not that justice will be done in history, it is already being done. Not only the awards, but what people who have already seen it say. They may or may not like it. That's optional. It's a story, a great story. It's a work of art.
We have many extremist groups of thought that want to destroy something that is beautiful, just because.
It is a film that when I was making it I knew it was going to be a cult film, it is going to be studied in film schools, it is going to be part of world cinematography in many years where we may not be. My performance is historic, for many reasons", emphasizes the Spanish actress.
And what about the music, why use it to tell a painful story, I ask him, he takes a breath and answers: "We are used to the fact that musicals are only hahaha! of romantic or funny stories. It is a mistake to describe Emilia Perez as a musical comedy, it biases. Emilia is a serious film, the music serves to reach the soul, the music is respectful and multiplies sentimentally because in reality it is told between pain and love".
In the firm tone that characterizes him, he talks about those who warn that the film does not portray the country we live in "See it in the cinema, what we see in networks is not Emilia Perez. It is not valid for someone who has not seen it, that is worth absolutely nothing. It reflects problems of a society not only in Mexico, but globally."
What would Karla Sofía say to those who experience tragedy as a result of violence? "I wish that all people who do evil take a little bit the example of Emilia Perez and take control of their lives, their existences, their identities and be responsible for what they do. Evil is a quick way that in the long run brings disaster to all. The tragedy of searching for missing people, for example, continues in Spain with the missing people of the civil war, in Mexico I have friends who have lived sad episodes due to violence. As citizens we have to enforce the law, to respect it. Multiplying hatred is easy, the complicated thing is to build better".
Next to Karla is Elmis Reyes, her manager, and for her, at a distance after so much travel and listening, Emilia Perez is a message of how you can vindicate yourself, Elmis says firmly: "I am Colombian and I know the subject, it is sensitive, painful (when referring to the issue of violence and drug trafficking) I see how people approach it, I see how they receive the film in different ways".
Some people want to put visibility only on the story of a trans actress and that's why the topic is poorly focused, but she recognizes that society still puts brakes, has fears: "it is difficult for society to understand it, but I have seen very adult people who have seen the film and come to embrace Karla and recognize her courage, they saw beyond gender".
The painful truth is always uncomfortable. Especially if you live in a country where there are daily reports of violence, dismemberments, disappearances, women murdered for being women, abuse, drugs and darkness.
Manitas does not change gender to become good, he changes because he wants another life and ends up finding it in Emilia.
Rita fell prey to her circumstances. Personal storms drag us to do things we never imagined, that we criticize or even hate.
Jess is the permanent seeker of love and the meaning of life. That which is understood in all languages and pronunciations.
Epiphany and its painful search, the hope that is never lost.
Emilia Perez is the pretext that detonates a story that seems absurd, unreal, inconsistent and crude, but in the end has the constant search for peace, love and transcendence.
In life, only by being uncomfortable can you help to shake up your environment.
People who are comfortable, conformist and oblivious to their own reality go through life with neither pain nor glory. They become irrelevant and add up to one more in the common world.
If Emilia Perez makes them so uncomfortable, it is because she has achieved her goal.
Then the sung reality is better endured.
See it, let everyone form their own criteria. That which is only forged in respect and in the understanding that art is subjective.
*Journalist by vocation. Early bird by necessity. Radio and TV host, lecturer.31 years in the media, Asociación Oaxaqueña de Radio y TV, Televisa, Grupo ACIR, MVS, México Travel Channel, Radio Centro and currently at W Radio and Latinus. Lover of travel, writing, soccer, good food and the best conversation.
The opinions expressed are the responsibility of the authors and are absolutely independent of the position and editorial line of the company. Opinion 51.
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