This year at TIFF, I was happy to note that many of the films I saw subverted expectations. These films gave the impression of going in one direction but then ended up surprising me. These unexpected twists made each of these films more interesting, exciting, and emotionally compelling.
Emilia Perez; subverting the “tragic trans person” trope
One example is the film, Emilia Perez, which tells the story of Mexican drug lord, Manitas del Monte, who enlists the help of a lawyer to arrange for a gender transition and an escape from their life of crime.
Far too often, in films about trans people, the conflicts in the story arise in relation to their gender identity. But in this case, Emilia’s transition goes smoothly and she successfully fakes her own death. After a few years of living abroad, she returns to Mexico to live as Manitas’s cousin.
She shares a villa with her former wife, Jessi, and their two young sons who Emilia adores. Her transition is so seamless that Jessi has no idea who she’s actually living with. Emilia even finds a way to atone for her past crimes, creating an organization to help the victims of Mexico‘s drug wars. Life is perfect.
But Emilia is suddenly faced with a crisis, and it doesn’t come from her gender transition. It comes from her inability to let go of her violent nature and transition from criminal to law-abiding citizen.
When Jessi plans to get married and take their sons to live in another town, Emilia resorts to violence, having the fiancé beaten and threatened. In the face of such violence, Jessi and her fiancé hatch a daring plan, ending in tragedy for everyone.
Emilia Perez subverts expectations in that it avoids the familiar trope of the “tragic trans person,” and gives us a film that is fresh and far more emotionally compelling.
Anora; subverting the “Pretty Woman” trope
Another example of a TIFF24 film that subverts expectations is Anora. It’s the story of Ani, a young sex worker, who meets the son of a Russian oligarch in the strip club where she works. Yvan sweeps Ani off her feet and she gets caught up in a fantasy of romance, fun, and unimaginable wealth.
Early on, there’s an overt reference to the film, Pretty Woman, which sets up our expectations that Ani’s story will follow that trajectory. But the movie takes the viewer to different places; both comic and violent, culminating in a far more realistic end scene than what Pretty Woman gave us.
This film also subverts expectations in the way that it refuses to portray Ani as a victim. She’s as canny and ambitious as she is devoid of self-pity.
Unlike the Vivian character from Pretty Woman, Ani is street-tough and always up for a fight. But she’s vulnerable enough to hope that her Yvan is a better man than he seems. She’s also strong enough to face her disappointment when Yvan turns out to be just as weak and unreliable as she’d feared.
By showing us a sex worker who’s a multifaceted human being, and by turning the Pretty Woman trope on its head, Anora subverts expectations in a deeply satisfying and meaningful way.
Mistress Dispeller; subverting our expectations about marital infidelity
Mistress Dispeller is another film out of TIFF24 that subverts expectations. This documentary film out of China shows the work of a woman named Teacher Wang who helps wives get their straying husbands back on track.
Using subtle yet expert psychological techniques, Teacher Wang works with the wife, the husband, and the mistress to break up the cheating couple and reunite husband and wife.
What makes this film different is that we expect to be angry at the cheating husband and to feel pity for the wronged wife, but by watching the way Teacher Wang approaches the couple, we end up feeling only compassion for both of them.
We also expect to have negative feelings toward the mistress, but again, the approach Teacher Wang takes gives us a different perspective. Teacher Wang deals with the mistress as a someone who’s making poor choices in her life – choices that cause her as much hurt as they cause others – leading the viewer to feel compassion for the young woman as well.
This documentary portrays a real couple going through a difficult time in their life, but it’s never uncomfortable to watch. The subject of marital infidelity is addressed with such delicacy and restraint that the audience is left deeply moved rather than angry and inclined to take sides.
In the end, when the wife gets her husband back, we see that the marriage is still not perfect, but that the couple is willing to try. By not tying everything up in a nice bow, this documentary provides us with a more satisfying and realistic picture of modern marriage in China, and it leads us to think quite differently about issues of infidelity.
Surprises enhance our enjoyment of films
When a film subverts expectations, the element of surprise allows the viewer to question their perspective on things and it enables us to connect more deeply with the material. When things don’t go as expected, the movie comes alive in our hears and in our minds.
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