‘You’re playing with one of our biggest wars’: Why some Mexican people are upset about Oscar-tipped film Emilia Pérez

Meza adds that, in her opinion, the film is “designed for export.” “If you go to resorts in Mexico, tourists can buy things that look Mexican but are made somewhere else,” she says. “In this movie, you might see references to Mexican culture, and it might be about Mexico, but it wasn’t made in Mexico.”

Filmmaker’s defense

But amid the wave of criticism, some of the accusations about the film are inaccurate. For example, one post on X described the director as “a Frenchman who has never set foot in Mexico.” However, Audiard told the BBC that he had been to Mexico several times, as he was looking forward to shooting the film there, as well as starring in the lead roles.

“I had the idea of ​​doing an opera by Emilia Pérez, and then I got a little scared, and I felt like I needed to bring some realism to it,” he says. “So I went to Mexico, and we scouted there during the casting process as well, maybe two or three times, but something wasn’t working. And I realized that the images I had in my mind about what… [the film] It will appear as if it does not match the reality of the streets of Mexico. It was just pedestrian, and very real. I had a more stylized vision in mind. “Then we brought it to Paris and reinjected the opera’s DNA into it.”

“And also, this may be a bit pretentious of me, but did Shakespeare need to come all the way to Verona to write a story about that place?”

Judging by the film’s awards season success, many critics and voters must agree with Audiard, or at least, think Emilia Pérez has strong artistic merit regardless of the issue.

“I felt it was a very fresh work when I saw it,” says James Mottram, the British film critic. “I mean, a completely new take on the cartel story, a very unusual musical, and a transgender story. Just bringing those three elements together is a feat of narrative ingenuity. I admire the film’s grit more than anything else. Audiard has worked in the crime genre before – If you could call this a crime film – with films like The Beat That My Heart Skipped, but this feels completely fresh and as a critic, that’s what you’re always looking for – someone who takes on divisive topics and puts a fresh spin on them.

“You could call Emilia Pérez a TV series as well as an opera, and it’s fiction on some level. I don’t think it’s supposed to be a true depiction of cartels. However, it’s difficult. I can understand why.” Some Mexicans feel offended when this is a sensitive topic for them, not that many of them were involved in the production.

“There have been complaints from the trans community about this as well. Audiard has been attacked from all angles really, and maybe that’s understandable, but I think when you do something risky and divisive, that’s always going to happen.”

Jacques Audiard says he first got the idea for the film after reading some of French author Boris Razon’s novels Écoute, one of which featured a secondary character of a drug lord “who wanted to convert” but “Boris didn’t follow through.” The idea,” said Audiard.