Synopsis
Overqualified and overexploited, Rita uses her talents as a lawyer in the service of a large firm more inclined to launder criminals than to serve justice. But an unexpected exit door opens to her, helping the cartel leader Manitas to get out of business and carry out the plan he has been secretly refining for years: finally becoming the woman he always dreamed of being. .
NB: The image comparisons (.jpg compression, 8-bit) are strictly for illustrative purposes and are not representative of what the Ultra HD Blu-ray will broadcast on your calibrated UHD HDR screen.
In order to highlight the concrete use of Wide Color Gamut (WCG) on this edition (see tutorial here), the pixels which are located in the standard/BT.709 range (confined inside the small triangle REC.709) are presented to you here entirely desaturated. Conversely, those part of the expanded BT.2020 range, exclusive to the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray disc (which extend outside the small triangle REC.709) are presented to you in color:
????❤️ “Who am I?” I don’t know anything about it. I am what I feel. And for the first time, I feel a feeling. »
Emilia Pérez (2024) is not an ordinary film. It’s raw energy, a bold mix of genres and emotions. A work that shakes up while remaining indomitable. Imagine a director, Jacques Audiard, abandoning the beaten path to chart his own path, even if it leads him into unexplored and sometimes risky territories. Initially, Emilia Perez was just an idea, a spark. Conceived to be an opera or a theater show, it evolved and transformed to become a film. But not just any film: one that merges the codes of musical comedy, film noir and thriller. As if we had locked a wolf, a lamb and a nightingale in the same cage. The result? A very surprising mixture.
At the heart of this unique composition is Emiliaor rather Handymana drug kingpin with hands covered in blood, who, one day, decides to call on a lawyer, Saldaña, to help him in a transformation as surprising as it is radical: becoming a woman. This decision, taken to atone for his past sins, goes well beyond simple physical metamorphosis. It becomes an intimate and profound quest, a path of reconciliation with oneself and a true rebirth. This topic, naturally, is controversial. The film addresses transidentity, but is not limited to that. Above all, it questions the freedom to be oneself, the possibility of reinventing oneself, even when one is immersed in darkness. It also examines violence, corruption and the ravages of complex family dynamics that forge broken destinies.
The unexpected and poetry come together in numerous scenes, accentuating the duality of Emilia’s journey. The artistic direction, subtly theatrical, borrows certain forms from the language of opera to transcend reality and create a dramatic tension where each gesture, each look, becomes the bearer of an intriguing meaning. The moments of pure musical comedy, surprising in their intrusion, also serve as an emotional valve in a visceral experience, bringing a form of lightness to the heart of a struggle between Mexican cartels.
From the first images, Emilia Pérez (2024) keeps its promise to capture you with its originality and audacity. Audiard, true to his signature, demonstrates remarkable mastery in the use of light effects, all in an almost permanent flow of movement. Actors, sets and camera intertwine with a fluidity that is just disconcerting. The film does not try to please everyone. It disturbs, shakes up expectations, ventures onto slippery terrain. We may not agree with this mix of genres. But it is undeniable thatEmilia Perez (2024) is a film that challenges, questions, encourages reflection and, in its desire to break the codes, defies conventions.
Video Quality
The filming ofEmilia Pérez (2024) was produced mainly in a studio in Paris, with precise control of the sets (extended using visual effects), light, and camera movements. Shots filmed in Mexico were used to anchor the film in Mexican reality, even if most of the filming took place in the studio. We owe the photography work to the artist Paul Guillaume. Sony CineAlta Venice 2 digital cameras (8K Full Frame) were mainly used. All combined with objectives Tribe 7 (T-Tuned) with a strong personality. An infrared camera was also used during a scene involving a shooting. We owe these Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray editions to Pathé, which offers the film in its respected 2.39:1 ratio, with the two options HDR10 and Dolby Vision (DV-FEL, 12 bit). A BD-100 disc (triple layer) was mobilized.
The softness of the images immediately strikes the viewer, demonstrating the importance of optics, light and post-production in the visual identity of a work, beyond just the choice of camera. In this specific case, the rendering does not offer extremely sharp sharpness, but this seems to be a deliberate artistic choice. The team has visibly opted for a form of softness, imbued with dreaminess, which harmonizes with the desired aesthetic. The impact of this approach is to revise the perception of the differences between 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray and Blu-ray editions. The distinction is not so much at the level of definition, which remains comparable, as at that of color calibration. The contribution of HDR, in particular, enhances the play of light and the effects of shine, which appear much more significant on the screen.
The film begins with a dark void, from which Mexican musicians emerge in an abstract and enigmatic universe. This introduction immediately establishes the tone of the film: a subtle blend of dream and opera, enhanced by striking gloss effects. Emilia Pérez (2024) is then distinguished by a profusion of nocturnal scenes where light sources, of varied nature and intensity, are exploited with remarkable mastery: LED celestial vaults, motorized projectors, jets of light creating dynamic and rhythmic effects, often in synchronization with music. Certain sequences shift into total abstraction, with walls that seem to disappear on the screen to give way to deep black backgrounds and isolate the characters. Minimalist environments, magnificently contrasted, which highlight characters lit by powerful and strategic lights. And all this is obviously magnified by HDR.
The passage where Manitas offers his deal to Rita in his military truck, the clinic scene in Bangkok, as well as the social meals, constitute some of these key moments which fully illustrate the interest of the extended dynamic range version . And there are strong intensities developed on this title with an average of light peaks measured at 261 nits, and numerous peaks located between 400 and 600 nits. Enriched by the Wide Color Gamutthe film deploys a vibrant color palette. The color temperature remains warm, in line with the Mexican atmosphere in question.
Audio Quality
Emilia Pérez (2024) can be discovered in the original Spanish version, with a Dolby Atmos mix that enhances every moment. This film, an atypical musical comedy, breaks conventions by rejecting the traditional separation between dialogue and songs. Musical moments emerge naturally from the ambient sound fabric, providing a fluid and organic experience. The work done to ensure harmony between the various sound sources involved is remarkable. The whole is homogeneous and immersive, without any inconsistency or break disrupting the viewer’s experience. Each channel is exploited to its full potential, including the superior Atmos channels, to envelop the viewer in a subtle but effective way. The singing and dancing numbers are particularly impressive. The one at the gala dinner for example! An earthquake is simulated, with a chandelier threatening to fall from the ceiling. The shooting episode which closes the adventure itself highlights the verticality of the mixing (on the backfire, splinters and broken glass heard).
The original version is reproduced in Dolby Atmos, core TrueHD 7.1 (4826 kbps, sous 24 bit) for a VF DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 (5043 kbps). In VO, the Loudness Range indicator (LRA) was measured at 18 LU.
Bonus
– Conversation between Jacques Audiard and Philippe Rouyer
– Behind the scenes of the filming
Conclusion
Faithful to the work and its artistic choices, this 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray edition is a flawless success. If the level of definition remains satisfactory, but close to the simple Blu-ray edition, the HDR processing of the version Emilia Pérez (2024) stands out clearly, revealing the richness and subtlety of the numerous plays of light. A very daring film which fully deserves to be (re)discovered.
