Emilia Perez Cinematographer Paul Guilhaume Interview for THR Presents

How does a film as cross-genre as Jacques Audiard’s Mexican transgender cartel musical work? Emilia Perez arise? In this case, it underwent a uniquely adventurous development process.

The acclaimed Netflix film loosely inspired by a chapter in Boris Razon’s 2018 novel Ecouteoriginally began as two different projects, both written and titled by Audiard Emilia Perez: an opera libretto that was to be performed for the stage, and a dark crime film that the director wanted to shoot on location in Mexico.

“It took a lot of time to merge the two projects into one Emilia Perezsays Paul Guilhaume, the French cameraman who shot it Emilia Perez He is considered an Oscar front-runner for his work on the film. “I didn’t even know which one I was going to shoot – both, or was it one or the other?” Guilhaume remembers the first few days after signing up for the project.

The cinematographer and a team of collaborators spent four months scouting locations in Mexico and coming up with visual options for the film – but at the end of that process, Audiard announced he was pivoting.

“He wanted to make a film that talked about very serious things, but brought an element of lightness to the treatment and the making process,” recalls Guilhaume. “From then on it was like, OK, let’s forget everything we have now and make the film in a studio. And let’s use all the location scouting we’ve done as a starting point.”

The Hollywood Reporter I recently caught up with Guilhaume for an issue of THR presentsto discuss the creation of Emilia Perezis a wholly original visual language that combines Audiard’s signature “aesthetics of movement” with explosive music video-style choreography, telenovela melodrama, consistently dramatic lighting choices, brooding political commentary, and a chase with gang members through a simulated Mexican desert.

“It was strange because we didn’t have a clear reference,” explains Guilhaume. “When you make a film, a lot of times you say, ‘Okay, this is it Sicario but (with this and that).’ That wasn’t the case here. The music and the choreography were so different – ​​a genre of film we couldn’t even say.”

As THRCannes chief critic David Rooney put it in his review of the Cannes Film Festival in May, where Emilia Perez debuted to great success: “Some fans of Francophile cinema still hope that Audiard will make another gripping drama like this.” A prophet or Rust and bonesbut any filmmaker who refuses to repeat themselves and instead continues to experiment and take new directions deserves to be applauded. With Emilia Perezhe has created something fresh, full of vitality and emotion, carried by his own calmly rising strength.

Rooney added: “The film looks great – never too slick, with a slightly rough quality that adds to its appeal. The camerawork is loose and smooth, the atmospheric textures of the many night scenes are effective and the use of vibrant colors is invigorating.”

Emilia Perez In the lead role, Karla Sofía Gascón plays a feared cartel leader who hires a lawyer, played by Zoe Saldaña, to help her disappear and realize her dream of becoming a woman. Selena Gomez plays the cartel leader’s young wife, who remains in the dark about her partner’s transition and is unknowingly taken along on the journey.

Guilhaume previously directed Audiard’s 2021 black-and-white drama Paris, 13th districtas well as music videos for Kanye West and Rosalía. Watch them THR presents Episode above for his scene-by-scene breakdown of how Emilia Perez was created – along with the title of the film, which he rewatches each time he begins a new project to remind himself of “visual perfection.”

This edition of THR presents is sponsored by Netflix.