Narco sex-change musical early favourite at Cannes
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A photo shows the festival logo during a press conference to announce the official selection of the 77th edition of the Cannes Film Festival, at the UGC Normandie cinema in Paris, on 13 April 2024. Artificial intelligence, QRCode, call buttons: the security of the 77th Cannes Film Festival will be imbued with technology with experimental devices at a time when the vigipirate plan is at its maximum level, less than three months before the Olympic Games.
Alain JOCARD / AFP
An intriguing musical about a Mexican drug lord escaping the narco life with a sex change -- featuring Selena Gomez in a supporting role -- premiered at Cannes on Saturday.
The plot for "Emilia Perez" initially sounded too crazy even for France's shape-shifting master director Jacques Audiard, who previously won the festival's top prize Palme d'Or in 2015.
But gushing reviews suggest Audiard may be a favorite to win again as the competition reaches its halfway point.
The film stars Zoe Saldana, of "Avatar" and "Guardians of the Galaxy", as a lawyer enlisted by the cartel boss who has always wanted to be a woman.
There were rave reviews for 52-year-old trans actor Karla Sofia Gascon in the title role.
Gascon transitioned at 46 having already built a family and a career in Spanish-language films and soap operas, and has written a book about her experiences with homophobia and transphobia.
Gomez plays the boss's unsuspecting wife in a surprisingly gritty turn for the mega-selling popstar-turned-actor.
Frontrunner
This year's Cannes, which concludes on 25 May, has seen two American veteran directors deliver end-of-life testaments -- Francis Ford Coppola's deeply divisive "Megalopolis" and Paul Schrader's deathbed tale, "Oh, Canada".
But Audiard has delivered a film that is bursting with youthful exuberance and audacious entertainment, as catchy reggaeton, Mexican tunes and French chanson are subtly mixed into a drama that tackles gender identity, gang violence and disappearances.
Deadline called it "crazy, but also a marvel", while The Hollywood Reporter said it was "fresh, full of vitality and affecting".
The director won the Palme d'Or in 2015 for refugee story "Dheepan" and has made a series of very different and critically lauded films, including "The Prophet", "Rust and Bone" and "The Sisters Brothers".
"Emilia Perez" seems well-suited to impress this year's jury president, Greta Gerwig, known for her own musical hit, "Barbie".
The film was part-financed by Saint Laurent, the first fashion house to build a fully fledged film production company into its activities.
Saint Laurent also backed two other lauded directors who are competing at Cannes: David Cronenberg's "The Shrouds" and Paolo Sorrentino's "Parthenope" will both premiere in the coming days.
