Evita

Alan Parker's movie-musical EVITA, based on the Andrew Lloyd Webber/Tim Rice stage show of the same name, is an epic biopic of Eva Peron, setting to music her rise to fame, prominence, and eventual first-ladyship on the arm of Argentine president Juan Peron. A woman worshipped by many and despised by as many others, Madonna plays the title role. Antonio Banderas costars opposite her as Che, a fictional (and apparently invisible) everyman who appears throughout the film playing devil's advocate to many of Eva's achievements. Character actor and theatre veteran Jonathan Pryce portrays Juan Peron, the third principal player of EVITA.Arguably one of Lloyd Webber's finest shows, EVITA's greatest strength lies in its wealth of excellent songs, matched to scale by Alan Parker's steady directorial hand, crafting a film whose sheer elegance meets (and perhaps even exceeds) the high bar set by the original musical. Like JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR, an earlier Rice/Lloyd Webber collaboration, EVITA contains very little spoken dialogue, it is in fact almost an opera. What little dialogue exists was cowritten by Alan Parker and Oliver Stone. The toe-tapping highlights include "Oh, What A Circus", "Buenos Aires", "Another Suitcase In Another Hall", "I'd Be Surprisingly Good For You", "High Flying, Adored", and, of course, EVITA's iconic ballad "Don't Cry For Me, Argentina." Nabbing EVITA the 1997 Oscar for Best Original Song, "You Must Love Me", an additional tune cooked up by Rice and Lloyd Webber especially for the film, adds a tender emotional poignancy to the latter stages of Eva's saga.If you are reading this review and have not seen the film, your primary concerns might revolve around Madonna as Eva Peron. How could a pop star, though not often an actress, fare in such a high-profile leading role? Forgive the (totally intended) EVITA-related pun, but...she's suprisingly good. Along with a solid performance in all other respects, Madonna's vocals convey well the many sides of Eva Peron's makeup: the fragility, pain, and lingering resentments from her youth, her drive and passion to help Argentina's working classes, as well as her eyes-on-the-prize iciness and savvy skill at manipulating both herself and others in the course of her ultimate ambition. Toward the end of the film, with terminal cancer setting in and Evita's demise imminent, Madonna's performance stirred me almost to tears. Crucify me now, but I believe Madonna proves herself a better Evita than Patti LuPone. I, for one, don't miss LuPone's overtly brash, annoyingly Americanized performance. I was always partial to Elaine Page's Eva Peron in the original West End production, and I feel Madonna is more in line with my preferred take on the first lady.Antonio Banderas, though lesser vocalist compared to Madonna, still holds his own as a singer and delivers an overall excellent performance as Che. Both David Essex (Original West End) and Mandy Patinkin (Original Broadway) were superior in the role, but Banderas' presence does add some appreciated Hispanic representation to one of the key parts. Jonathan Pryce also provides a intriguingly ambiguous turn for what he is given. Despite it, however, Juan Peron remains nothing more than a supporting part; the primary gravity of the story stays where it should be, the conflict between Eva and Che. Though Pryce is briefly allowed to shine on his own in "She Is A Diamond."I wholly recommend EVITA, a grand piece of entertainment in almost every regard, even for its handful of flaws. The most notable foible is the loss of some of the original musical's bite, with a fair few of Tim Rice's more provocative lyrics (the ones deemed too critical or unflattering toward Eva Peron) either toned down or removed completely in the translation from stage to screen. While still not afraid to lift the curtain on Eva's negative qualities, the film will seem noticeably neutered to any fans of, say, the original Broadway production and its accompanying cast recording. Viewers who do not count themselves among the purists will most likely not be bothered by the changes, for the musical's essence, and the political angle of its two creators, remains largely intact. These revisions were probably made as part of a deal allowing Alan Parker, his cast, and the crew into Argentina in pursuit of authentic locales. This seems to me a fair trade off, especially for their ability to shoot the crucial scene of Eva addressing scores of her followers from the balcony of the actual Casa Rosada. Another significant change which benefits the film version: the reeinstatement of "The Lady's Got Potential" and the reduction of the show's weakest link, "The Art Of The Possible", to little more than a passing mention. The song is not missed at all, to be quite honest.To sum it all up, EVITA is a beautiful production, well worth the time of anyone who enjoys a great musical, and even more, a great story!

Let me first preface this by saying that I am NOT a fan of Madonna, as an actress or as a singer. I have enjoyed Antonio Banderas as an actor and a as a singer in the few roles I've seen him in (Zorro, Shrek 2, etc.). The rest of the cast I know nothing about, and while I enjoy reading and viewing things about history post-WW2, I never really took the time or interest in this movie until just now. I found an old review of it on IMDB while looking up something else, and decided on a whim to check it out, since I do enjoy Andrew Lloyd Webber's musicals (Phantom of the Opera, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar).All that being said, I was pleasantly surprised by this movie. I was caught up in the drama and in Eva's rise to power as portrayed by Madonna. I certainly don't condone the methods that she used in her meteoric rise, but I'm also not naive enough to think that such things don't happen in the political world, or even in the professional world. I've seen some reviews on here claiming that they had difficulty understanding the lyrics to the song, or that Banderas and Madonna don't even come close to matching the original Broadway cast - I had no difficulty at all in understanding the songs. "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina" is heartfelt, "Rainbow High" matches Madonna's vocal range brilliantly, and the combination of "You Must Love Me" and "Eva's Final Broadcast" brought me to tears.I don't know if Juan and Eva Peron really did love each other as they are depicted in the movie, or if their marriage was one of convenience and based on what Eva was able to do for Juan, but I was completely sold on them as a loving, if politically scheming couple with possibly morally ambiguous aspirations for power. Eva's deathbed scene, where she can't bring herself to admit that she loves Juan and is only concerned that she's no longer any use to his political career is a heart-tugging moment, since it's obvious that she wants to say it, especially as he is sitting there by her bedside so that she doesn't have to die alone, with tears rolling down his cheeks.On Banderas' side, the director's decision to make him into a quasi-omniscient narrator/voice of the people was a brilliant decision. I don't even know who the character is supposed to represent from history, but I didn't care in the least once I figured out that he was more of an "every-man" of the Argentinian people. "Oh, What A Circus" opens the movie brilliantly and sets the tone for those who have no idea who Eva Peron was and shows how easily public opinion can change for those who have such a sharp rise to power. "High Flying, Adored" shows off his vocal range impressively, and he matches Madonna well when they come together for "A Waltz for Che and Eva".I love the way Webber's music flows so well. Going from a solemn requiem to the rock-themed second half of "Oh, What A Circus", to the Latin flair of "Buenos Aires" and all the other musical styles he works into the music keeps the movie varied and catchy. The music becomes a character in its own right, which is a good thing, since there is almost no spoken dialogue in the movie - almost every line is sung. "Rainbow Tour" is a fun, catchy song that I've found myself humming all day, and the various le motifs used by the different characters ("Don't Cry for Me, Argentina" and "Buenos Aires" for Evita) give a sense of continuity, even as the song styles change from piece to piece. I've never seen the Broadway version of this musical, but simply filming a staged version of the play wouldn't have the same impact as this movie did. Another musical that pulled this off brilliantly (and ironically enough, another Webber musical) was "Phantom of the Opera". This is not the Broadway version, and they don't pretend that it is. It should be able to rise and fall on its own terms, and to be completely honest, I think it excels brilliantly.