2 hours 14 minutes, USA/UK 1996
Director: Alan Parker; Producers: Alan Parker, Robert Stigwood, Andrew G. Vajna; Screenplay: Alan Parker and Oliver Stone, based on the stage play by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice; Photography: Dariius Khondji; Production Design: Brian Morris; Editing: Gerry Hambling: Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber.
Stars: Madonna (Eva Duarte/Eva Perón), Antonio Banderas (Ché), Jonathan Pryce (Juan Perón), Jimmy Nail (Agustín Magaldi), Victoria Sus (Dona Juana), Julian Littman (Brother Juan), Olga Merediz (Blanca), Laura Pallas (Elisa), Julia Worsley (Erminda), Maria Lujan Hidalgo (Young Eva)
Madonna as Eva Perón? Eva Perón, the woman who changed Argentinean political history for the better and captured a nation's heart so that, in her homeland, she attained virtual sainthood.? The people were outraged, even more so than when Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice wrote their now classic musical based on her life. Lloyd Webber's musical painted Eva as a scheming, power-hungry vamp who slept her way to the top and didn't care who she hurt on the way. So, thought Alan Parker when making his casting choices, who better to play her than Madonna Louise Ciccone.
The film itself is an unusual concoction of styles and images which sits rather uneasily on Lloyd Webber's sporadically wonderful music. As I wrote above, Evita is the story of Eva Duarte (Madonna), a naive young woman from a small Pampas town who dreams of leaving her drab existence and escaping to Buenos Aires - "Big Apple" - and finally gets the opportunity in the company of her sometime lover, the famous Tango singer Agustin Magaldi (Jimmy Nail). She arrives in Buenos Aires and, after many years of making sure she is noticed in the company of all the right men, finally catches the eye of military leader Juan Perón (Jonathan Pryce). The two fall in love and, in the years to come, following various military coups, become the President and First Lady. But while Juan takes care of the business of running the country, Eva, or Evita as she becomes known, wins the people's hearts through a combination of wonderful public relations and an apparently sincere attempt to ease the suffering of her fellow Argentineans. All this comes to an end, however, upon her untimely death at the age of 32. The story is narrated by Che (Antonio Banderas), a young man who appears, disappears and re-appears at crucial points in Evita's life in various guises.
I think the main problem with Evita was Alan Parker's decision to make the film with no spoken dialogue whatsoever - every line (with about seven exceptions) is sung. This seemed to make the actors in the film seem very uneasy about delivering speech which does not form part of a song. For example, when Eva meets Magaldi after twenty years, Eva says "Your act hasn't changed", to which Magaldi replies "Neither has yours". However, because of Parker's decision, the lines have to be sung: and it seems very unnatural and stilted. There are also some very unusual casting choices: Jimmy Nail seems very out of place in a film of this kind, and additionally the appearance of Peter Polycarpou (Pauline Quirke's husband from British TV's Birds Of A Feather) may surprise a few British viewers. I mentioned earlier that I thought Lloyd-Webber's music was only sporadically wonderful. This is a bit misleading, I suppose, because as a musical composition on it's own it is a masterful piece of work. However, when combined with Alan Parker's imagery, it seems completely out of place, especially in the opening scenes of Evita's funeral - the rock guitar track is totally inappropriate for what was obviously meant to be an emotional and moving image, and to which an orchestral score would have been more suited. This is what I mean by an unusual concoction of styles and images.
This said, however, I felt that as time wore on I became more engrossed in the film: it seemed to settle into a nice rhythm as it became more straightforward and linear in its storytelling. There are some truly wonderful moments thoughout the middle section film. Madonna's heartfelt rendition of Don't Cry For Me, Argentina from the balcony of the Casa Rossada sends chills down my spine, and the sequence where Evita fantasises about dancing the tango with Ché which, when lit from above, sends elegant shadows spreading across a magnificent ballroom, is visually amazing. Also, the stunning shot of hundreds of mourners queuing to pay their last respects to their beloved Evita in a crowded mausoleum is spectacular. The only drawback is the long and drawn-out denouement, which seems to go on forever, and detracts from the earlier work. (One of Madonna's lines is "Have I said too much?", after which I heard one of my fellow cinema-goers mumble "Yes, you have" to herself.)
The two leads are excellent, as one would expect, and both fully deserve their recent Golden Globe nominations. Madonna plays the part of Evita extremely well, but then again she never really stretches her acting muscles to the limit. As her fantastic pop videos show, she is in her element when performing a song in front of a camera, but whether she can convey the same emotion whilst speaking rather than singing remains to be seen. I, personally, was more impressed by Antonio Banderas, who was a revelation as Ché, the film's narrator. Banderas has a captivating screen presence, a surprisingly good singing voice and a deft touch for subtle comedy when his part requires it. Again, although he is not required to act particularly strongly, his quirkiness and knowing glances to camera make him an appealing male lead. Not so, however, Jonathan Pryce and Jimmy Nail, both of whom look completely lost and lifeless as, respectively Eva's husband and mentor. Pryce, sadly, does not have a good voice and is well and truly out of his depth here. The same can be said for Nail who, despite his success with hits like Crocodile Shoes and Cowboy Dreams, seems overawed by the proceedings. Technically the film is superb, with special mention going to director of photography Darius Khondji who seems destined for an Oscar.
As a movie, Evita starts and ends poorly but more than makes up for it with excellent songs, admirable performances and a striking visual look. Hopefully, the people of Argentina will find it in their hearts to finally forgive Andrew Lloyd Webber because, despite it's faults, Evita does their heroine proud.
A film review by Jonathan Broxton 1997