Rodrigo Prieto “offended” by the “inauthentic” Mexican representation in 'Emilia Pérez'

The experienced Mexican cinematographer, Rodrigo Prietoknown for being a top-notch cinematographer and having photographed acclaimed projects such as Dog loves, 21 grams, Babel, Biutiful, Wolf of Wall Street, Barbieand having been nominated for an Oscar four times for Brokeback Mountain, Silence, The Irishmany Killers of the Flower Moonis making his debut as a feature film director with the film Pedro Paramo.

His directorial debut adapts the novel written by Juan Rulfo, and “follows Juan Preciado's journey in search of his father Pedro Páramo, at the request of his mother on her deathbed.”

In an interview with Deadline to promote his film, Prieto took the opportunity to talk about another film project that is giving a lot to talk about this season, and that is emerging as one of the contenders in the awards season ahead. to the Oscar 2025, Emilia Perez by director Jacques Audiard.

To get a little into context and in case you haven't heard of the film, we tell you that Emilia Perez adapts the novel by Boris Razon. Its plot focuses on the feared Mexican drug trafficking boss “Manitas”, who goes to the lawyer of a large law firm, Rita Moro Castro (played in the film by Zoe Saldaña) with an unexpected offer: he wants her help to retire from his businesses. and disappear forever, becoming the woman she has always dreamed of being, undergoing gender affirmation surgery, “Manitas” will become Emilia Pérez (role played by Karla Sofía Gascón). His wife, Jessi del Monte, is played by Selena Gomez.

With this in mind, Prieto told Deadline that he was offended by the inauthentic Mexican representation of the film, which takes place in Mexico City. This is what he said to the media:

“First of all, I don't like that the movie was not filmed in Mexico. In second place, Why not include more Mexicans to participate in the production? Not even as actors. We have Adriana Paz in the movie and she is great. I think it's great. It was a breath of fresh air when I saw her in the movie. It seems Mexican to me in an authentic way. Everything else in the movie seems inauthentic and that bothers me a lot. Especially when the topic is so important to us Mexicans. It is also a very delicate topic. Everything is completely false. I'm not talking about the musical aspect, which I think is great. That's a great idea. But why not hire a Mexican production designer, a costume designer or at least some consultants? Yes, they had dialogue coaches, but I was offended that a story like that was portrayed in a way that seemed so inauthentic. For me, it was just the details. There would never be a sign in a prison that said “Prison,” but rather “Penitentiary.” It's just the details, and that shows me that no one I knew was involved. And it didn't even matter. That was very worrying for me.

I'm not against non-Mexicans making films in Mexico, but the details are important. Look at Ang Lee. He is from Taiwan and made Brokeback Mountain. But it focuses on the details. even me with Pedro Paramo. I'm not from the Mexican countryside, but I went and talked to people to learn how to better represent the culture. “It’s all about the details.”

Emilia Perez It has been available on Netflix since November 13 in the United States, while in Mexico it will be released in theaters on January 23, 2025 distributed by Zima Entertainment.