Evita

Surely Madonna was made for this role, that of Eva Duarte de Peron, a young girl from the country who rises to the top with a combination of brains, wits, political savvy and sexuality. Sure she used men to attain her dreams, but what was a girl to do in 1930s-40s Argentina? Antonio Banderas is superb as Che, the "narrator" critic, perhaps the soul of the Argentinian peasants. Banderas' background is stage musicals, and he matches Madonna in every way. Jonathan Pryce is also excellent in his role as the dictator who rises to power only with the talents of Eva. This is not your ordinary musical. Almost every word is sung, as in opera, and the whole thing works. Andrew Lloyd Webber proves himself again a master tunesmith. Besides "Don't cry for me Argentina," all the other songs (if you can call them that) are beautiful, ranging from sweet ballads to waltz and rock. The film is lavish in breadth and depth, with thousands of extras just like the old Hollywood spectaculars. No f/x here, but real people. The cinematography is also superb. This is truly a triumph, a glorious experience, totally unique in film. Highly recommended. *****

"Evita" is an opera, albeit a rock opera, in the true sense of the word -- there can't be fifty words of spoken dialogue in the entire movie. Music drama is a highly stylized form, which admittedly is not everyone's cup of tea. Perhaps that is why the overall rating given the film by IMDb voters, 6.3 out of 10, is as low as it is. To those of us who like the operatic form, though, this is an outstanding film, beautiful to look at, well acted, and most importantly well sung. The only weakness I found was the one that inheres in every Andrew Lloyd Webber piece: too much recycling of too few musical themes over two-plus hours. Nevertheless, Tim Rice's lyrics are wonderful, they are consistently inventive and drive the story. Madonna was good in the title role but Antonio Banderas's performance as Ché was great, both dramatically and musically. "Evita" is highly recommended, 8 out of 10.

I liked this movie. I thought it kept it's edge and that was largely because of Madonna. I didn't want to like Madonna in the part...she seemed too flighty, too self-involved. I didn't hold out too much hope for her acting.

She really surprised me. Not only did she do a wonderful job with the script as given, she also went so far as to watch footage of Eva Peron and got the hand gestures and facial expressions down.

I also heard that she is credited in obtaining permission from the Argentine government to film at the Casa Rosada. Eva Peron is STILL considered a saint, and they were worried the movie would show her in a bad light. Madonna proved to them (and then followed through on film) that she was going to give the role dignity...to show Eva Peron in a balanced way as a person with flaws, not an evil woman bent on destroying Argentina.

She actually made the movie for me to the point where I couldn't envision anyone else in the role.

Antonio Banderas was also a bit of a surprise for me. I didn't know anything about him and kinda considered him eye candy instead of a serious actor. I was pleasantly surprised when I found out he can sing as well as act.

Jonathan Price was good at portraying a Juan Peron. He could be gentle and kind to his friends, but also showed no remorse for "removing" anyone who opposes him. I read in another review of this movie that Price wasn't barbaric enough for the part. Juan Peron WAS very charismatic...he had to be, or else he would NEVER had been elected president.

One of the things I liked most about this movie was that all the people in it seemed real. The extras were neither overly good looking or freakishly ugly. They looked like anyone you would see walking down any given street.

The cinematography is splendid, and it's hard to beat the soundtrack.

It's an 8/10 for me.

I used to think that there were a couple of absolutes in this world other than the standard issue ones. One is that I will always hate Andrew Lloyd Webber and another is that Madonna will never be a good actress. After seeing Alan Parker's 1996 musical "Evita" however, starring Madonna and featuring the music of Andrew Lloyd Webber, I have had to amend those two statements slightly.

"Evita" tells the true story of Eva Peron, the wife of Argentina's former president (and dictator) Juan Peron. In a story that was ready-made for Hollywood, she started out as the illegitimate and poor daughter of a man who dies when she is very young, sleeps with a mediocre nightclub singer at the age of 15 in order to gain passage to Buenos Aires, and from there begins her struggle to reach whatever achievements her ambitions require (which is a lot). Using her body to gain important friends (because, frankly, she didn't have any acting talent) she becomes an actress and radio star before she meets Juan Peron, at the time, an up and coming politician. They get married and the two work to get him elected as the president of Argentina on the platform that "they are workers too". When he is elected, Evita's popularity grows even more, to the point where her dreams of becoming the vice president of the country could be realized, until she is stricken with cancer and dies, essentially with the image of a saint, at the age of 32.

"Evita" is a gorgeous, lush film, full of thousands of extras, great location scenes and features a very talented cast. It acts almost as an incredibly big budgeted and elaborate music video, mainly because it features almost constant singing, and well, it stars one of the most visible music video stars of all time. Madonna finally found her part in this film, and no, it wasn't just easier because she didn't have a lot of speaking lines. It is clear that not only did she take voice lessons (which actually is true) because her voice quality was better than "normal", and has stayed that way since the making of this film, but she was able to knock off some decent dramatic moments. Banderas, though he spent a lot of the film looking pretty furious with the camera, doesn't have to prove any acting mettle (anyone who has seen him in an Almodovar film can attest to this) but did come up with a surprisingly good singing voice. Jonathan Pryce, who was curiously cast as Peron also did a good job, though his part was fairly minor, and even at that he was relegated to giving Evita a lot of loving looks. All in all, however, the slick production, some catchy music (I cannot believe I am actually saying that I actually really like a film featuring the music of the insipid, mainstream, gnome-like Webber) that is good enough to listen to extra-curricularly and performances that weren't bad made for a pretty good and very entertaining viewing.

Don't get me wrong – there are more than a few eye-rolling moments in "Evita", but the good definitely outweighs the bad, exponentially. The story, while coherent, was pretty mediocre, and I found that I felt that there were some things that were glossed over or trivialized with a cute musical number. Admittedly, however, this IS a musical and you don't sign up for a hard-hitting knowledge fest when you watch one. This wasn't the first time I had seen this film, and yet I still end up getting so wrapped up in the action that I end up bawling a couple of times, and this viewing was no exception. More importantly, though, I didn't feel like a doofus when I recommended it as a movie that three guys and I should watch together, because while it's slick and a musical, (and therefore, traditionally, a chick film) there's enough compelling elements to the film that will keep some guys happy as well. Good job, Parker and thanks a lot for blowing two of the absolutes I normally stand by. 6/10 --Shelly

The movie Evita, starring Madonna, Antonio Banderas and Johnathan Pryce is a musical account of the life of Eva Peron. An adaptation of the original rock opera by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber, the film is told as a flash back with the narrator, Antonio Banderas as Che, recounting the events that have lead to the opening scene: the announcement of Evita's death.

Evita, played by Madonna, was born into poverty in rural Argentina. She was able to climb the social ladder through her numerous male relationships and acting career. Eventually she marries Juan Peron, played by Jonathan Price, who is an up and coming Colonel in the Argentine military. Evita then becomes the first lady when a military lead coup makes Peron President. As first lady, Evita is extremely popular with the general Argentinean population because she is considered to understand the needs of the lower class, as she came from a poor background herself. Peron exploits his wife's popularity by having Evita tour the world and run charitable foundations. As the story develops the narrator portrays Evita as increasingly more negative and aloof to her husband's repressive actions and policies.

From a historical standpoint Evita has many inconsistencies, however, the general storyline is factual and based on Mary Main's biography of Eva Peron. Unfortunately, Mary Main's biography has been criticized as biased because much of her evidence was attained from anti-Peron sources. As a result the movie also shares this historical criticism, and many of the events and portrayals in the film have been disputed. The films' suggestion that Evita was a terrible actress who slept her way to the top has been disproved by historians. Likewise, the film's portrayal of Evita's arrival in Buenos Aires as mistress of a married man has also been proved false. Nonetheless, the core historical events portrayed in the film are on the whole extremely accurate. The movie does a particularly good job of illustrating the social unrest and governmental corruption rampant in Argentina during the 1940's and 1950's. The film also correctly addresses the large gap between the rich and poor during the time period and its relative implications on society. All the dates, events and characters are based on historical fact, except for Che the narrator. This gives the movie a pseudo-realism that is unique from other musicals. As an educational film, Evita could be very helpful in depicting the events surrounding Peron's rise to power, as long as one notes the biases and alleged inconsistencies ahead of time.

From an entertainment perspective, Evita is thoroughly enjoyable. Antonio Banderas in particular, does a fabulous job in his role of Che. Madonna, in the role she was "born to play", is spotty at times, but on the whole is very commendable. The music, already famous from the play, is well incorporated into the movie and generally well sang by the cast. The simple cinematography allows the movie to progress very smoothly and incorporate Che in scenes the play never could. The story is widely held as a classic and is quite entertaining. Evita's realism allows viewers to associate themselves with aspects of Evita or any of the other characters lives, while the music makes the movie easy to follow and family friendly.

Clearly Evita is worth watching as it is both entertaining and educational, a rare combination. Although, one must be preemptively warned that the movie has been criticized from a historical viewpoint as being unfairly negative toward Evita. The movie also portrays the many charitable and positive actions lead by Evita. The movie makes no claims to be entirely historically accurate, and subsequently must be understood as entertainment first, and history second. Still, the movie provides a strong background in Argentine history and politics that are relevant even today. On a scale of one to ten I would rate the movie a nine for entertainment and a seven for historical accuracy.