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The “Emilia Pérez” soundtrack will be available just before the film’s release in the United States.
CINEMA – Good news for fans ofEmilia Pérez. The soundtrack of the musical film arrives this Friday, November 1 on platforms. It was written and recorded at the same time as The Mexican Odyssey of Jacques Audiard presented at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival and released in France on August 21.
“The music does not reflect the film, it was woven at the same time”recently told AFP the singer Camille, who composed the soundtrack with the multi-instrumentalist Clément Ducol, her companion in the city.
On arrival: a double patchwork album sung in Spanish by the four actresses awarded at the Cannes Film Festival (Selena Gomez, Karla Sofià Gascon, Zoe Saldana, Adriana Paz) and bringing together recordings on set, in the studio or in post-production .
“It’s a puzzle with seams in every direction to make it a masterpiece”also comments to AFP Pierre-Marie Dru, musical supervisor of the film, which is also released in theaters this Friday, November 1 in the United States. “A little musical Frankenstein”jokes Clément Ducol.
In project since 2020
The first melodies ofEmilia Pérez are taking shape in 2020 in Périgord. Gathered in residence, Jacques Audiard and his screenwriter Thomas Bidegain infuse their imagination alongside Camille and Clément Ducol to flesh out their 20-page script and build a musical film.
“In the morning, they talked to us about the scenes, the characters. In the afternoon, we went to the studio and made them listen to our creations that day. It was constant back and forth”says Camille.
Over the months, the music takes shape as the story of this Mexican cartel leader who begins a gender transition develops. Clément Ducol loved this “role of translator”. “I like a director to speak to me in emotions, in images, rather than in musical theory”says the one who orchestrated the music ofAnnette by Leos Carax.
Without playback but with AI
The models recorded by the couple will then resonate in the studios of Bry-sur-Marne, near Paris, where filming begins in spring 2023. “We felt like we had our songs in 3D”remembers Camille.
The influences are wide-ranging: Fierro Viejo / Las Callewhich opens the film, takes up the incantations of the street mattress sellers in Mexico and Las Damas as Pasanwhich closes it, revisits in Spanish and in a brass band Passersby by Brassens.
On the set, Audiard initially thought of having the actresses sing exclusively in playback but ultimately changed his approach. “He realized the power of live performance”indicates Camille, whose singing served as a matrix for the actresses.
A little discovery was sometimes necessary on the singing of Karla Sofià Gascon. For certain vocal registers, the production called on an artificial intelligence company based in kyiv which mixed its voice with that of Camille to create a “sort of chimera”explains Mr. Holtz.
“It’s not “deep fake” or voice cloning but a virtuous approach,” he explains. It’s Karla Sofià’s voice, but with Camille’s inflections. »
Represent France at the Oscars, but not only that
After Cannes, Camille and Clément Ducol reworked the musical material of the film to adapt it to a disc format but retaining an organic link with the feature film. Dialogues and ambient sounds are sprinkled throughout the 43 tracks of the album (Sony Music label) to recreate the spirit Emilia Pérez.
“We are trying with the soundtrack to rediscover this hand-woven side, the originality of the production of these songs and their dimension outside the walls”explains Camille, who left for Los Angeles with Clément Ducol to write the next chapter: running for a musical Oscar in March.
“I’m terrified”the filmmaker rightly admits to AFP, during a day where he continues interviews in Los Angeles, before the film’s release in American theaters on Friday. “There’s something worrying about mass success, it’s not your real life. »
Netflix, which purchased its tenth feature film to broadcast from November 13 in streaming, intends to submit it in the general categories (best film, best director, best actress, etc.), well beyond the race for the Oscar for best international film.
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