As a seasoned film critic and dance enthusiast who has spent countless hours dissecting the intricacies of both art forms, I must say that “El Alegato” from “The French Dispatch” left me utterly captivated. The scene’s seamless blend of dance, narrative, and cinematography was a breathtaking display of artistic fusion, much like attempting to mix a perfect martini – too many ingredients can spoil the drink, but when done right, it’s sheer magic!
Jacques Audiard’s unique blend of noir and musical genres, titled Emilia Pérez, initiates with an appeal. In this film, Zoe Saldaña portrays Rita, a disillusioned attorney for white-collar offenders, who is penning her closing statement, urging the jury to acquit her client, a corrupt bureaucrat allegedly pushing his wife from a balcony. However, the subsequent musical sequence, a grand procession through Mexico City’s streets, serves not only as Rita’s plea to the jury but also to the audience – inviting them to embrace this film’s unusual setting, where Rita finds herself ensnared in the web of a drug lord (Karla Sofía Gascón) who desires gender-affirming surgery. As Damien Jalet, the choreographer, explains, “From the very beginning, it was clear that if we couldn’t make that scene convincing, we would risk losing the audience.
Similar to the movie itself, which oscillates between feeling like a soap opera, a drug-related thriller, and a domestic drama, according to Audiard, the song, titled “El Alegato” or ‘Plea,’ doesn’t neatly fall into any specific genre. It is a fusion of rap and power ballad, an orchestral hymn and a techno reinterpretation. Rita starts off the song in a chilling whisper as she types at her desk, her face illuminated by a screen displaying live coverage of ongoing protests against femicide, saying, “He murders his wife, but we claim it was suicide.
Stepping out of the convenience store and onto the busy street, my breathy, rhythmic speech gains urgency. Switching between bitter resentment and heartfelt honesty, I begin to draft a speech that will clear a man I believe is innocent. The pace quickens, and the vibrant hustle and bustle of an outdoor market comes alive from the shadows, filled with dancers, vendors, and even fleeting glimpses of action like a swift knife fight. “So, what’s the topic at hand today?” I ask, almost singing my words as a chorus joins in. “We’re discussing violence, love, death, and a nation grappling with its own pain.
According to Clément Ducol, the song composer, it’s not just about wrapping things up, but rather, it’s the beginning of the movie experience. The tone was crucial in establishing a benchmark. He aimed to evoke a sensation where viewers might start seeing their everyday life in a new light. Perhaps a simple walk could be transformed into a dance, or the sounds from a construction site could turn into a percussion ensemble.
1.
Bring Mexico City to Paris
Approximately a year prior to filming, Audiard and his crew intended to film on-location in Mexico City. However, when the production start date was postponed for several months in August 2022, Audiard made a decision and shared it via email: He opted to shoot within a Parisian studio instead.
In some instances, his worries were more about practicality. For example, avoiding background noise during musical scenes was particularly beneficial. However, what truly mattered to Audiard was that the studio provided him with the chance to craft visuals that could not be replicated in the same manner on-site. This is illustrated in a scene at the end of “El Alegato,” where the crowd’s chorus fades into a melancholic piano tune, causing the world around Rita to appear as if it’s darkening and freezing.
However, setting up a traditional outdoor market, or a tianguis, presented certain challenges for the team. They had to construct it entirely from scratch, which involved numerous market stalls, each with unique design features such as 30 sets of string lights imported from Mexico to create a cozy ambiance. Additionally, there were the dancers: “I told Jacques, ‘You need people in your market, and they shouldn’t look like French tourists’,” said Jalet. As a result, twelve Mexican dancers were flown in to perform throughout the scene.
2.
Give Rita a Theme Song
In 2019, Ducol and French singer Camille started collaborating with Audiard, and from then until filming, their songs underwent frequent revisions. Since the director was developing the script and the original four-act operatic libretto simultaneously, he would often propose an idea for a scene to Camille and Ducol and ask, “Does this spark a song in you?” However, the “Alegato” scene was always intended to be a musical number.
For the lyrics, Camille integrated the legal jargon that would typically go into a closing argument. She then used that as a template to introduce Rita’s inner conflict — she’s defending a man she knows is guilty, but she’s also keenly aware that corruption is a nationwide epidemic, undergirding every institution, and she feels helpless to stop it. “She’s denouncing corruption, and she’s corrupted,” says Camille. “Her singing is still meant to seduce a corrupted audience.” The lyrics swing from weary irony — “This case is a very mundane case / A case about violence” — to moments of chillingly resolute belief in her client. “Long live the triumph of love,” she sings about his professed devotion to his wife toward the end of the song. “Long live innocence.”
For Camille, Spanish was a unique hurdle since she’s not a native speaker. When Jacques proposed that she write the lyrics, he didn’t probe about her proficiency or ask if she wanted to learn more. Instead, he simply inquired, “Would you like to handle the lyrics?” To which Camille replied affirmatively without any further questions. Working with language consultant Karla Avilez, they ensured that the song was authentic to its northern Mexican context, using accurate colloquialisms and accents.
3.
Let the Actors Move Their Way
According to Jalet, who has experience with dance in films like Suspiria and working with Madonna, Audiard’s movie had no dance-related suggestions or guidance in the script whatsoever. It was left up to Jalet to decide which songs even contained dance elements. The director also emphasized that he didn’t want a traditional musical feel, preferring close-up shots and Steadicam movement during dance scenes, as well as a contemporary, interpretive style of choreography. At one point, Jalet considered leaving the film because he felt his input wasn’t necessary.
A significant factor that held his interest was Saldaña, who is classically trained in dance and can convey a narrative through her movements. The production, “El Alegato,” in particular, demanded great attention to detail. The first three minutes, where Rita merely types on her laptop, shops, and enters the market, were “extremely carefully choreographed,” he notes. Yet, it appears ordinary actions like typing or placing a cup down needed to be deliberate and timed precisely.
As Rita stands amidst the crowd in the market, people around her start making quick hand gestures without any prior indication. This is the peak of the sequence. The movements appear to be quite deliberate, such as a finger across the throat representing “slit throats”. However, there’s an underlying anger hidden beneath these actions. The body language is harsh, sharp, and protective, as Jalet describes it as an “energy of resistance”. For Rita, there’s a hint of sarcasm in every gesture, according to Saldaña, because she knows she’s lying. In this dance, one can truly sense her disgust, despair, and detachment towards the world that she feels powerless against.
4.
Make It Look Like One Shot
In April 2023, when filming began, “El Alegato” was the initial scene they captured. As Audiard explained, “When embarking on a new film, I always tackle the most challenging part first.” So, if you’re making a western, you kick off with a gunfight between gangs. For a musical, you start with the number that demands the most energy. They hired the largest studio in Paris exclusively for this sequence; all other scenes were shot elsewhere.
Approximately two weeks prior to filming, Jalet started capturing full rehearsals with an iPad supported by a DGI stabilizer. This allowed him to pinpoint the precise moments when the remote-controlled market stalls would change direction or the camera would move to a new angle. The goal was to create the impression of a single, continuous shot, as if we were traversing multiple streets simultaneously. Once on location, Jalet had to instruct the Steadicam operator to replicate these specific movements.
The cinematographer’s goal was to maintain a sense of “disorder and raw energy,” as Paul Guilhaume described it, which surprisingly can be more challenging than creating a high-end polish for blockbusters. This is why the market stalls are illuminated only by practical lights (visible in the shot) that flash then dim as the music builds up, and why the sequence primarily uses footage from the Steadicam over the two cameras on set. As Audiard explains, “We are all quite ambitious… I could say pretentious, but let’s just stick with ambitious.
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2024-11-04 16:54