Every song and dance in 'Emilia Pérez' tells a story — and that was a thrill to its DP

“Emilia Pérez,” manager Jacques Audiard’s movie philharmonic astir a Mexican cause lord who transitions to a woman, evidently has a batch of antithetic things going on.

It’s appropriate, then, that Oscar-nominated cinematographer Paul Guilhaume applied a kaleidoscope of techniques to the gritty, noirish, sometimes satirical and operatic melodrama’s Spanish-language opus sequences.

The sequences, staged for the astir portion astatine Bry-sur-Marne Studios adjacent Paris, required adjacent collaboration betwixt Guilhaume and Audiard, who had antecedently worked unneurotic connected the overmuch simpler, black-and-white romanticist misadventure “Paris, 13th District.” Belgian choreographer Damien Jalet, movie exertion Juliette Welfling and, of course, performers Zoe Saldaña, Karla Sofía Gascón and Selena Gomez were important to making each accumulation fig pop.

Zoe Saldaña sings and dances successful philharmonic numbers from “Emilia Pérez.”

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“Some sequences, similar the opening successful the marketplace wherever Zoe does her archetypal large performance, Damien had plans for the close constituent of presumption connected the choreography, wherever the camera should beryllium astatine each moment,” the tousle-haired Guilhaume explains successful a video chat from his location successful Paris. “We rehearsed it successful beforehand with iPhones and tiny gimbals. Then Damien, Juliette and I pre-edited.”

Plans proved futile, however, for Saldaña’s aboriginal large opus and creation to the tune of Clément Ducol and Camille’s Oscar-nominated “El Mal.”

“The fundraising gala, wherever Zoe’s dancing among the tables, was overmuch much improvised,” the cinematographer says. “When we archetypal filmed the sequence, it didn’t person the vigor the choreography had: We were staying excessively distant; the planned blocking disappointed. So we went with a overmuch shorter, 20-millimeter lens connected a Steadicam. The Steadicam operator, Sacha Naceri, Damien, Zoe and I conscionable tried to find the close presumption for the camera connected astir each 1 of her moves. Zoe’s quality benignant of dictates the camera and lighting movements.”

Audiard’s wide aesthetic, Guilhaume says, is focused much connected question than rigorously controlled cinematography.

“It’s precise Jacques Audiard to movie dialog scenes with handheld cameras,” Guilhaume says. “He likes to bring question and mishap to thing that wouldn’t person them if changeable connected a tripod oregon dolly.”

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The country wherever Saldaña’s lawyer Rita, who arranged for narco Manitas’ modulation to Emilia (both played by Gascón), encounters her years aboriginal astatine a meal enactment is simply a subtle masterpiece of ever-so-slightly floaty lensing, dimmed-out backgrounds and framework masking arsenic the characters sing their concerns to 1 another.

“Jacques is the benignant of manager who has a signature shot, similar Spike Lee’s dollies,” the cinematographer notes. “He calls it the manhole. It’s similar an iris but moving and vibrating successful beforehand of the lens erstwhile you’re profoundly connecting with characters’ emotions. In the studio, we could conscionable power disconnected the remainder of the satellite connected a circumstantial enactment and beryllium capable to airy 2 faces. It’s some successful the continuity of Jacques’ mise-en-scene and the revelation, successful this case.”

Some looks were comparatively elemental to achieve. A artifact bought online swirls laser dots astir a child’s chamber to magical effect for “Papa,” which 1 of Emilia’s young sons sings to her, unaware (yet besides intuiting) that the begetter he’s agelong thought dormant is his caller auntie.

Jessi (Selena Gomez) performs a opus astatine a karaoke nine successful the movie.
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As Manitas’ unsuspecting wife, Jessi, brought backmost to Mexico City from a Swiss hideout to unrecorded with this in-law Emilia she’d ne'er heard of, Gomez expresses the character’s consciousness of entrapment successful “Bienvenida,” jumping betwixt solo selfie shots successful her chamber and an all-black signifier wherever her rage is expressed by writhing backup dancers.

“It’s different cardinal infinitesimal that relies connected the airy changes to heighten the character’s emotions,” Guilhaume says. “There is simply a missing partition that separates the chamber from the all-black studio. We conscionable enactment 2 precise strong, level lasers there, and arsenic soon arsenic Selena crosses it, you tin spot the laser airy connected her head. When she jumps from 1 broadside to another, the airy effects power connected and off.”

In the series for the movie’s 2nd Oscar-nominated song, “Mi Camino,” Gomez and Édgar Ramírez, who plays Jessi’s emotion interest, crook a karaoke nine show into a tableau of longing, splintered personas.

“Jacques’ intuition was that the walls had to beryllium screens here,” Guilhaume notes. “When we tested that, we realized that we could usage a video feedback effect. It’s the aforesaid arsenic erstwhile you enactment mirrors successful beforehand of each other, and you spot the reflection multiplied an infinite fig of times. So astatine archetypal you spot Selena from this frontal constituent of presumption and her aggregate images successful the background, and the series astir ends conscionable filming the screen.”

What euphony video seasoned Guilhaume recovered astir thrilling astir visualizing this oddest of musicals was however communicative was ever his main concern.

“Jacques wanted the play to unfold during the accumulation numbers,” helium says. “It was precise pleasant to enactment successful this facet due to the fact that you ever had to dainty the country similar you’d dainty a fabrication scene. What caller accusation oregon emotion bash you get from the sequence?”