5 Oscar-Winning Musical Dramas That Are Way Better Than Emilia Pérez

Despite a major controversy that jeopardized its position after Karla Sofía Gascón’s offensive tweets, Jacques Audiard’s Emilia Pérez is still aiming at a big win at the upcoming Oscars ceremony.

The movie secured the statuettes for Best Film Not in the English Language and Best Supporting Actress at the BAFTA ceremony just last night, proving that it might not be among the frontrunners for the Best Picture award anymore, but it’s still a major contender to consider.

However, with all its issues that were slammed by the audiences as soon as the film hit the screens worldwide, Emilia Pérez is a reminder that musical dramas never had a time this hard at the Oscars, and many of those big winners from previous years are still beloved pieces that, unlike Jacques Audiard’s drama, don’t risk being forgotten anytime soon.

Les Misérables (2012)

The most recent movie adaptation of Victor Hugo’s epic novel of the same name, Les Misérables, was some kind of new record-breaker, leading its actress Anne Hathaway to win the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress after her 15-minute appearance in a nearly 3-hour-long movie.

However, the actress’ powerful scenes were the ones that got stuck with many viewers forever: in there, Hathaway delivers a magnificent performance as Fantine whose life path sees a major breakdown and culminates in the actress’ not less stunning singing performance of “I Dreamed a Dream.”

Walk the Line (2005)

Directed by James Mangold, the movie recounts the story of Johnny Cash and his wife June Carter, with Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon portraying the lead characters respectively.

Though both had major work to do while getting into the character and mastering their vocals, it was Witherspoon for whom all the effort paid off. In 2006, the actress received a bunch of prestigious awards, including a BAFTA, a Critics Choice Award, a Golden Globe, a SAG Award and, lastly, an Oscar for Best Actress.

Twenty years later, Walk the Line remains one of the best musical movies with its actors’ career-best performances that are a pleasant reason to revisit the movie every so often.

Chicago (2002)

Having more recently starred in Netflix ’s Wednesday as Morticia Addams, Catherine Zeta-Jones was an on-screen cabaret star back in the 2000s. The actress appeared in a movie adaptation of the hit Broadway musical Chicago, which also starred Renée Zellweger.

Zeta-Jones’ acting and singing performance was so captivating it eventually brought her an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. Additionally, Chicago remains the most recent musical film to receive the Oscar for Best Picture.

La La Land ( 2016)

Damien Chazelle’s musical love story is still one of those movies that gives its fans a disheartening reality check, but just can’t keep them away from giving the movie another rewatch anyway.

Back in the day, La La Land had a stunning success and, just like Emilia Pérez, secured a whopping number of 13 Oscar nominations, eventually taking home 6 statuettes, including ones for Best Actress, Best Director and Best Original Song.

Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling remain an on-screen duo with an unmatched chemistry, which is, accompanied by memorable musical scenes and captivating storyline, another reason why La La Land will remain on the list of legendary musicals for a long time to come.

Funny Girl (1968)

Adapted from the Broadway musical of the same name, Funny Girl stars Barbara Streisand in the leading role that she reprised right after leading the original musical back in 1964. The actress’ film debut, Funny Girl brought Streisand to another level of fame after the actress received an Academy Award for Best Actress.

Despite its quite a long life of more than 50 years, the movie is still a pleasant watch thanks to Streisand’s mesmerizing acting and vocal performance that saved Funny Girl from aging badly.