Jacques Audiard says he is “ready to apologize” to Mexicans

CINEMA – Almost a mea culpa. Jacques Audiard, director ofEmilia Perez, apologized (a little) after critics considered his feature film with Karla Sofía Gascón problematic, particularly on the vision of Mexico that it presents.

During an interview with the Mexican media CNN, initially, the filmmaker wanted to rectify by explaining why, according to him, the criticisms made to his film were unjustified, in the name of part of the fiction. “ What I mean is that from the moment you place yourself in a form which is opera, we are not in a system of realism. »

Then, the director continued “ If there are things that seem shocking to you in Emilia Pérez, shock Mexicans, I will be ready to apologize. I’m very sorry “. Jacques Audiard then tempered and highlighted the “universal” aspect of his story “ Cinema doesn’t provide answers, it asks questions. Maybe the questions Emilia asks are inappropriate, I don’t know. But I don’t find them uninteresting. I don’t mean to be pretentious but there are themes in Emilia that are universal. »

Despite her collegiate actress prize at Cannes and her four Golden Globes, Emilia Perez is in fact not free from controversy. Some of which well before the Hollywood coronation. In question, for example, the words of the director who had affirmed that he had “not no need to research Mexico because he knew enough ».

“Emilia Pérez”, a film shot in France…

The director was also criticized for having shot his film in France after location scouting in Mexico, which he explained to Trois Couleurs, saying he preferred the studios for “ stick less to reality “. Another criticism leveled at the film: the choice of mostly non-Mexican actors and their unbelievable accent. Indeed, only the secondary role of Epifania is played by a Mexican actress, Adriana Paz, and Selena Gomez had to take Spanish lessons.

Finally, at the heart of the controversy there is also the vision deemed by some to be stereotypical of the country, transcribed in the film and its script.

Mexican actor Mauricio Martinez declared: “When Mexicans tell you that a film set in Mexico, directed by a Frenchman who has never set foot in Mexico City and says he didn’t need to do any research for the film, portrays Mexicans with lots of stereotypes, ignorance, lack of respect and taking advantage of one of the most serious humanitarian crises in the world (mass disappearances)… Maybe… believe the Mexicans? »

Emilia Perez is also the subject of criticism for its representation of transidentity through the character played by transgender Spanish actress Karla Sofía Gascón. The organization GLAAD, the American reference association for media monitoring against LGBTI-phobias, described the film as “ retrograde on the representation of trans people ».

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