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Every year from January to right before the Academy Awards night, I start to go to the cinema to watch the movies that have won the Oscar Nominations. I cram-watch them so I don’t miss the best movies made in the previous year.
Late last night, I finally got to see the one movie I was eagerly anticipating, Emilia Perez, in a sparsely occupied movie theater at the wee hour of 10:30pm. When the 2 hour 15 minute movie ended, the long list of credits were moving up while the soul-shaking music was playing in the background, I and all the half a dozen viewers were so taken by the power of the movie that none of us could move out of the theater. We were immobilized until the last line stopped, the music faded, and the screen turned black.
If the anonymous voters for the Best Picture were not voting out of self-censorship, fear, or politics, Emilia Perez, as a great piece of art, rightfully deserves to be the Best Picture.
This movie triumphed on the theme of the tremendous courage of being true to oneself and human love – the mysterious, unpredictable, dangerous, and the almighty power of all kinds of human love, by weaving it through complexity, controversy, honesty, brutality, transformation, AND unanswered questions through the lens of living a transgender person’s life, through its impact on all human relationships, even on society, with convincing dramas.
By chance or not by chance, I saw Emilia Perez only after watching a list of OK movies that I had thought were “great” until I saw the jewel in the crown, not just among the 2025 Oscar nominated movies but as a classic for all times.
All other contenders for the coveted Best Picture Award 2025, such as A Complete Unknown, Concave, Wicked, The Brutalist, Anora, etc., they all pale by the power and scope of Emilia Perez, in terms of artistry, audacity, originality, storytelling, music, drama, visual effects, and acting.
But I am not sure the Academy voters will put Emilia Perez in its crowning place as a riveting and a true piece of art. We are living in an era of cultural war, political divide, fears, self censorship, AND censorship by the mainstream media and even movie theaters.
We shall see. This is one of the most anticipated Oscar nights, personally.
The trans actress, Karla Sofía Gascón, who played Emilia Perez should win the Best Actress Award, but she may not win due to her prior racist comments and the mere fact that she is a trans gender person.
If that is the case, the Brazilian actress Fernanda Torres, who played the leading role in I am Still Here did a much better job than Demi Moore. The depth and the quiet power of a woman in times of extraordinary hardship is shining through with controlled emotions, steely will power, and devotion to her five children, as Fernanda Torres portrayed with restrained and admirable power, far more moving than the Hollywood superficial, super sensationalized, roaring in your face The Substance.
I personally believe the Best Actor Award should go to Timothée Chalamet, who played Bob Dylan in the biopic A Complete Unknown.
The best supporting actress, I believe, is Zoe Saldaña who played the lawyer in Emilia Peraz.
Let’s see if true art wins this year, or not.
©Joanne Z. Tan all rights reserved.
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