Sumith Prasad
In Netflix’s musical crime movie ‘Emilia Pérez,’ Rita Mora Castro is an exceptional lawyer who hasn’t had an opportunity to display her skills before the world. While her boss continues to steal her work to win cases, she immerses herself in a sense of despair, which vanishes when she accepts a job to work for a drug cartel leader named Juan “Manitas” Del Monte. The latter needs the lawyer’s assistance to undergo gender-affirmation surgery and lead a new life as Emilia Pérez. Even though Rita is the polar opposite of her boss, their life journeys have several similarities, which also explain the origin of the character! SPOILERS AHEAD.
Rita Mora Castro Enhances the Theme of Transition in Emilia Pérez
Jacques Audiard originally conceived ‘Emilia Pérez’ as an opera libretto with “archetypal and one-dimensional” characters. Rita Mora Castro, in particular, was seemingly created as a typical right-hand person of a powerful drug cartel leader, reminding us of the similar characters in countless gangster or Mafia movies. The lawyer uses her negotiation skills to ensure that Manitas Del Monte will receive the required medical assistance to become a woman without anyone else knowing about the transformation. Since the cartel leader cannot step out into the world and find a doctor without making the same a spectacle, Rita is an essential character in the narrative.
Even though Rita must have been created to fill a blank within the narrative, she aligns perfectly with the central theme of the crime drama: transitions. As the film progresses, the lawyer changes with Emilia, who also transforms into the woman she always wanted to be. “To me, she [Rita] is a person [who] doesn’t have the courage to speak for herself. She’s underworked, overlooked, [and] desperate for change, but she wants power, she wants influence, and she wants success,” Zoe Saldaña told Deadline. “So understanding that this was a Faustian deal that she was going to immediately take—and never look back—was important to me because she also goes through a transition,” the actress added.
While Rita does not exist in real life, her nature and transformation are part of the lives of countless women worldwide, which makes her highly relatable. Even Saldaña was reminded of several women she grew up with and wanted to be like. The lawyer ultimately represents anyone who has the guts to hold onto an opportunity to pursue one’s aspirations or ambitions.
Rita Mora Castro Resembles Several of Jacques Audiard’s Characters
In several of Jacques Audiard’s films, we can see the characters pursuing freedom and change. Malik El-Djebena’s decision to turn his life around by joining the crew of a potent mob boss in ‘A Prophet’ is not drastically different from the choice Rita makes when she strikes a deal with Emilia/Manitas. Dheepan’s search for independence and safety in the Palme d’Or-winning ‘Dheepan’ reminds us of Rita’s departure for London to escape from her hardships in Mexico. These common factors make the lawyer a quintessential Audiard character. The similarities are not accidental. Rather, they simply serve the question Audiard asks through his films.
“In my films, my question often is, how many lives do we have a right to? We have one original life, and we know the costs and benefits of that life. If we had the chance for another life, what would be the price?” Audiard told W Magazine about these similarities. Rita, along with Emilia, raises the same questions in ‘Emilia Pérez.’ She yearns for a different life in London while she is asked to remain in Mexico, which comes with a set of costs she has to pay. Without love and family to enhance her life, she becomes one of Emilia’s two friends, which is not an ideal life even though she receives ample money from the transformed cartel leader.
Rita appears rooted in reality despite being fictional because she was created to address an existential question that is relevant even beyond the film’s fictitious narrative. Through the character, Audiard addresses the different dimensions of changes and transformations, delving into their benefits and dangers.
Read More: Is Karla Sofía Gascón’s Emilia Pérez Gay or Bisexual?
