What are the top ten most dangerous non-warring cities in the world with the highest murder rate?
According to statistics from a survey by the Citizens' Council for Public Security and Criminal Justice based in Mexico City, the central-western Mexican city of Colima had the highest murder rate of 181.94 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants in 2022. Among the top ten cities with the highest homicide rates, except for New Orleans in the United States, which ranked eighth, the nine others are all located in Mexico.
Unfortunately, these unfavorable statistics solidify the chaotic and dangerous image of Mexico portrayed in movies and TV shows. Even though Mexico is rich in tourism resources and intriguing cultural heritage, such statistic makes people think twice about exploring this country. In many cases, the ongoing drug wars there do not even affect tourists.
From the movie "From Dusk Till Dawn" (1996) to the Netflix series "Narcos: Mexico" (2018-2021), we often see cartel hitmen praying to Virgin Mary while committing heinous murders. In Latin America, a region with a historical trajectory paved with silver, swords, and stones, this is not surprising. Silver represents rich mineral resources, swords symbolize violence, and stones stand for faith. From the era of indigenous peoples, the colonial period, to the present time where the political landscape is constantly shifting, the dichotomy of prayer and violence epitomized by Mexico has remained unchanged in Latin America.
But what if, one day, the cartel bosses and their hitmen were suddenly hit by an epiphany and genuinely want to turn over a new leaf and start anew? Will they truly lay down their swords and pick up prayer stones instead?
French director Jacques Audiard's new film "Emilia Perez," which premiered at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, brings this seemingly far-fetched hypothesis to life in the fictional world of cinema. The film weaves an imaginative and thrilling story, full of unexpected twists and rich in intrigue.
Warning: I'll briefly outline and analyze this strongly plotted script so it'd inevitably involve some spoilers.
Rita is a highly talented lawyer whose professional principle is to serve her clients fully without questioning their guilt. One day, she receives an unusual and irrefusable request: to arrange a sex reassignment operation for Juan, the most wanted drug lord in the nation, and turn him into the titular woman, Emilia Perez. Naturally, no one else can know about this.
Years later, Juan and Rita meet again. Just when Rita thinks she is about to be silenced, she discovers that Juan has not only changed his sex but also completely transformed as a person. Once a ruthless drug lord, Emilia is now a sentimental individual. She is deeply moved by a mother who can no longer find her missing child. Determined to make a change, she establishes a non-profit organization dedicated to finding missing persons and matching victims' DNA. Soon, many formerly merciless hitmen also come forward as volunteers to seek redemption. The film also features American pop star Selena Gomez in a significant supporting role.
These incredibly melodramatic plot twists are astonishingly presented by Audiard in the form of a musical. From the most typical Mexican Mariachi street bands to romantic ballads and electronic dance tracks, the film features performances reminiscent of Michael Jackson's style in "Smooth Criminal." By transforming harsh realities into a joyful fantasy, everything becomes both enjoyable and thrilling.
Indeed, gangster musicals have left their mark in film history. One of the most iconic scenes comes from the 1961 version of "West Side Story," depicting the close-quarters street fight between two gangs, the Jets and the Sharks. In 2014, in Tony Gatlif's "Geronimo," a gypsy musical, there's an intense gang confrontation scene where knives cut through wire fences to create rhythms, a Turkish man drags a coffin to set the beat, while a gang leader smashes the guitar of his rival's brother against it. Amidst the raging flames, the gypsy gang seizes the coffin and turns it into a dance platform, with the gang leader's sister tap-dancing atop it. In 2017, the Italian musical film titled "Love and Bullets" about the Camorra mafia in Naples portrays the violence within and beauty of the city in a self-deprecating tone.
In the context of this lineage, Audiard's "Emilia Perez" can indeed be jokingly referred to as a Mexican cartel musical. While you live in the tumultuous Mexican society filled with looming perils, why not get on your feet and dance? In the world of cinema, literally anything, even the most challenging and dangerous situations, can be turned into songs and dances.
Audiard once again proves himself to be a versatile and prolific director who excels in delivering both high-quality commercial genre films and arthouse cinema showcased at film festivals. He demonstrates his ability to skillfully navigate stories in multiple languages besides his mother tongue French, such as English, as seen in "The Sisters Brothers" (2018) and "Dheepan," which is predominantly in Tamil (it won the Palme d'Or at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival). This time, 85% of the dialogue in his latest venture is in Spanish.
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