‘Emilia Pérez’: Clément Ducol and Camille On Crafting an Emotional Music Arc for Selena Gomez and Zoe Saldaña
Filmmaker Jacques Audiard gave virtually no notes when he sent French songwriting and composing duo Clément Ducol and Camille an early draft of his latest film, “Emilia Perez,” but by the time they got to the last page of the script, they were inspired to write a song called “Para.”
The duo will be feted at the at the Toronto Intl. Film Festival with the TIFF Variety Artisan Award, which recognizes a distinguished creative or in this case, creatives, who has excelled at their craft and made an outstanding contribution to cinema and entertainment.
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Dalmais and Ducol are among the artists being honored at the festival’s Tribute Award fundraising gala on Sept. 8, with Canada’s own Sandra Oh serving as the gala’s honorary chair.
“Emilia Perez,” which premiered at Cannes in May and unspools in TIFF, stars Zoe Saldaña, Selena Gomez and Karla Sofía Gascón in a genre-defying combination of crime and pop songs. The film revolves around lawyer Rita (Saldaña), who helps a crime boss retire from the cartel business and disappear, and also undergo gender reassignment surgery to become the titular character, Emilia Perez. Perez then enlists Rita to facilitate a reunion with her wife, played by Gomez. While the plot makes a bold swing, what’s even bolder is Audiard’s vision, which uses musical numbers and a compelling score to thread the narrative together.
After writing “Para,” a social justice hymn, the rest of the music followed. “Each song in “Emilia Perez” “had to be a magic wand that makes us believe the tale we’re being told by speaking to our hearts,” Camille says.
“El Mal” proved to be the most challenging. Shuffling through six iterations drawing from different musical genres, the duo settled on a pop-rock trance type number with saturated electric guitars and a hyper-fast flow. It’s a tune Saldaña performs during a fundraising gala. “We needed a mood,” Camille explains, as the number evolved from a protest song and at one point even had a hip-hop beat.
Once the music came together, Audiard decided to incorporate a speech by Emilia into the scene.
The score seamlessly merges with the musical numbers, but only because of strong artistic direction from the filmmaker. Audiard collaborated throughout the process with his musicians to amplify what each song should bring to the scene, the narrative and the character. “It was up to me to capture a hook, an issue, a word, a phrase, an emotion,” Dumont says. “Something that would make a song. There was always a discussion about the function of the song.”
Casting also played a role in how the music evolved. Audiard wanted a song for Gomez that not only saves her character, Jessi, but something that would resonate with the audience. “Mi Camino” became her anthem. “The song has a nostalgic feel, like a hit from the 1980s,” Camille says. “But it also has a modern dimension. The woman who sings it accepts that she’s not always a superwoman. She is autonomous in love; she loves herself as she is. She loves her own weaknesses. If someone wants to love her, she sets the tone.”
Other TIFF honorees include Mike Leigh, who will not only debut his new film, “Hard Truths,” at the Toronto Intl. Film Festival, but he’ll also receive the Ebert Director Award.
Montreal-based journalist Durga ChewBose makes her directorial debut at TIFF with “Bonjour Tristesse” and fittingly, will be honored with the Emerging Talent Award presented by Amazon MGM Studios. Chew-Bose also wrote the screenplay, which is an adaptation of Françoise Sagan’s 1954 novel, and stars Chloe Sevigny, Claes Bang and rising star Lily McInerny.
The TIFF Tribute Performer Award goes to Amy Adams, for her body of work. Adams stars in Marielle Heller’s “Nightbitch,” which makes its world premiere at the festival. Adams also serves as producer on the dark comedy through her shingle, Bond Group Entertainment.
Cate Blanchett receives the TIFF Share Her Journey Groundbreaker Award, inspired by the festival’s Share Her Journey initiative created to address gender parity in the film biz. The award well-earned, given that Blanchett co-runs Proof of Concept, which supports female filmmakers. Audiences can also see her In Conversation With… series, in which she talks with talent at the festival.
Canadian filmmaking icon David Cronenberg will add the Norman Jewison Career Achievement Award to his trophy case. His latest film, “The Shrouds,” debuted in competition at Cannes earlier this year and will screen at TIFF.
Carole Horst contributed to this report.
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