The song “El Mal” from Emilia Perez, sung by Zoe Saldaña, won the Oscar for Best Original Song at Sunday night’s Academy Awards. The track, written by French songwriters Camille and Clément Ducol, alongside the film’s director Jacques Audiard, triumphed in the prestigious category.
Later in the evening, Daniel Blumberg, an English composer, claimed the Oscar for Best Original Score for his work on Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist.
“El Mal” is a powerful three-minute performance by Saldaña, who plays lawyer Rita Castro in Audiard’s operatic drama. The song features a fantasy sequence where Castro dances among the wealthy and powerful, denouncing the corruption behind the drug wars that have led to the deaths of thousands of Mexicans.
The Best Original Song category was introduced by Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger, who walked onto the stage to the sounds of the band’s 1968 hit, “Sympathy for the Devil.” Jagger, 81, shared a humorous anecdote, saying that although he was thrilled to present the award, he wasn’t the first choice. “The producer really wanted Bob Dylan,” Jagger said, imitating the 83-year-old musician’s voice. “Bob said, ‘The best songs this year were obviously in the movie ‘A Complete Unknown.’ He said, ‘You should find somebody younger.’”
“I said, ‘I’m younger, I’ll do it’ — so here I am!” Jagger added, before presenting the award.
Camille, one of the song’s co-writers, began her acceptance speech by mimicking the iconic “Whoo-woo” chant from “Sympathy for the Devil.” She then expressed the message behind the song, saying, “We wrote ‘El Mal’ as a song to denounce corruption, and we hope it speaks to the role music and art can continue to play as a force of good and progress in the world.”
“Emilia Perez” also competed against itself in the category, as the film had two songs nominated. Besides “El Mal,” the other nominated song was “Mi Camino,” a romantic ballad sung by co-star Selena Gomez, also written by Camille and Ducol.
In a previous interview with Variety, Saldaña described the moment in Emilia Perez when “El Mal” plays, saying, “When the lights go down and Jacques gives you the impression that we’re inside her thoughts, that’s when she unleashes.” The song, which blends rock and rap, also won a Golden Globe earlier this year.
Camille and Ducol, the French songwriting duo, were also nominated for Best Score for their work on Emilia Perez. Camille Dalmais, known mononymously as Camille, is a celebrated singer-songwriter in France, with a successful career spanning over 20 years. She has also contributed her voice to the soundtracks of animated films like Ratatouille and The Little Prince. Ducol, meanwhile, was the music director for the rock opera Annette and scored the French animated film Chicken for Linda.
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