Evita (1996)

Has anyone read Leonard Bernstein's account of how he discovered that "West Side Story" wasn't an opera? He'd written countless different musical interpretations of Maria's final speech, in a variety of styles and musical forms, and none of them had come close to working. The scene was a dramatic climax, and in an opera any such scene would have to be a musical climax as well. But Bernstein realised that for the scene to work dramatically in "West Side Story" the characters would have to stop singing and talk to one another; therefore, "West Side Story" couldn't be an opera.

It's a pity that Andrew Lloyd Webber didn't have a similar epiphany. "Evita" clearly thinks of itself as a grand and serious opera, but it's considerably further from being one than "West Side Story" - despite the fact that there's not a line of spoken dialogue. And spoken dialogue would certainly help. Partly because no character can break OUT of speech INTO song - there's not even an undercurrent of recitative - no song feels like the expression of anyone's point of view but Tim Rice's. Almost all songs are sung by nobody in particular.

I suspect the transfer to the screen has made things worse. The photography is gorgeous - I never saw it on the big screen, where, I'm sure, it was ten times as gorgeous - but it's all wasted: it simply serves to turn "Evita" into one big, long music video. All the spectacular images are in the form of seconds-long illustrations, vignettes, and flashbacks. If only Alan Parker had had the courage to just ONCE give us a single unblinking shot of ANYTHING, even if it was just of a character simply singing... As it is, this is the coldest musical drama you're likely to see. The characters are so remote I'm not sure they're there. I can't see any larger epic structure, either: it takes more than an army of extras to give a movie one of those.

And let's face it: musically, Lloyd Webber isn't up to the task he's set himself. His instrumental music is curiously dead - which, I presume, is why there's so little of it - and even the songs arouse my suspicion. So much artificial respiration: drum machines, modulations, juxtaposition, unmotivated changes of rhythm, choral intervention ... truly memorable material ought to be able to breathe on its own. A film that's going to be ALL score requires a stronger score than this.

I agree with those who praise the cast, though.

Fmovies: Opening with her premature death, this musical about Argentinean first lady Eva Péron flashes back in time to show her rise to fame before becoming embroiled in politics when her husband assumed control of the country. The standout aspects here are the music and memorable songs, however, they are a mixed blessing. There is a hardly any spoken dialogue with the characters singing over 90% of the time, which renders it hard to get under anyone's skin. By the end, one gets the sense that Eva was loved by many and hated by some, but the reasons why are never clear with the music/songs always at the forefront; it is not clear either how Eva ticked as an individual and how her mind worked, and Madonna is hardly spectacular, vocals aside. Antonio Bandares gets the film's best moments as a narrator of sorts, slyly winking at the camera and exuding lots of charisma, but he is not on screen anywhere near often enough to carry the project. Those with some knowledge of the actual Eva Péron and Argentina's political history may well get more out of the film. For those uneducated in such areas though, this is not a great place to start. Accurate sets and costumes ensure that the film looks good and with all that amazing music it sounds good too, but if as important as the film makes out her life to be, a non- musical narrative may have done better justice to the legacy of Eva Péron.

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 n

Evita fmovies. Excellent Lloyd Webber-Rice musical is finally brought to the silver screen twenty years after the release of its concept album. Being used to watching flashy, colourful musicals, namely from MGM, full of catchy tunes and full of breathtaking dance routines, "Evita" left me quite shocked. It was the first (and last) "political" musical I saw. The music impressed me at once, however the story and the setting did not quite do so at first sight. It was only later, when I read something about the life story of Eva Peron did I really appreciate the excellent work Lloyd Webber and Rice did. Even though they were not 100% faithful to the real story, the bio-musical gave a somewhat clear picture of what type of woman Eva Peron was. The movie was great with its re-enactments of the 1940s-1950s Argentine elections, however, having personally performed in the stage version (playing a descamisado, a waiter, a policeman and one of Eva's lovers), I cannot but point out the several drawbacks it had. It is true that the funeral, the electoral campaign and the terrorism were by far better on screen than on stage, yet the stage musical had a certain charm which was lost in the film. It could be due to the fact that on stage there was some dancing involved while the movie had none; it could be because one was live and one was playback; it could be because some of the harmonies were lost in the movie; it could be simply due to the fact that in one I participated while in the other I was just a spectator. I don't know, still the stage version was more "alive". Nonetheless, in order to be fair, I have to admit that the movie version did have some improvements as regards to the play. The best one of them was the song "You Must Love Me". Apart from finally re-uniting composer and lyricist after more than 10 years of cold war, it presents the First Lady of Argentina as a woman who has some feelings, who is afraid in front of her approaching death, who is not only interested in becoming vice-president, as the stage production tends to hint. How much this is historically true is beyond me, yet it is good to give some human element to the heroine.

I was quite impressed by the actors' interpretations. Madonna has finally showed the world that she is able to look great without taking her clothes off, that she is more than just voice, boobs and scandal. Jonathan Pryce was excellent as the Argentine president - such a pity he had so little to sing, having such a great voice. Antonio Banderas impressed me - I did not know he was that good at singing. The role of the narrator was quite a breakthrough after his ‘tough-guy' parts, and he did it quite well. Some critics said that this movie would set the way for future film versions of musicals - I hope they were right!

Evita, the long awaited musical is Madonna at the top of her game, and in all her splendor she nails the role of the First Lady of Argentina, Eva Duarte de Peron!!! Madonna's portrayal of Eva Peron not only resurrected the story of Eva's life, but breathed new life into her as well! Madonna finally surpasses the cardboard reading, she's given us in past films, and generously gives of herself to this role, something warm, alive and tangible. Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's music and lyrics were just that, until Madonna made them her own! Precise enunciation and pitch sent me into the stratosphere, Madonna was no longer a singer, but now an accomplished voice to be reckoned with! The meticulous attention to detail on the sets, costuming, and shooting helped propel the grandeur of the film and it's believability. Madonna finally leaps beyond her persona and truly BECOMES the First Lady of Argentina, Eva Duarte de Peron!!! The Golden Globes took recognition of the hard work put forth by crew, actors and director. "Evita" snagged 'Best Director' for Alan Parker and 'Best Actess in a Musical or Comedy' for Madonna, well deserved! A must see film!!

I knew before, that Madonna can sing but now I know what she also can act. Meanwhile, I knew before that Antonio Banderas can act, but now I know what he can sing. And in Evita he sang incredibly good. I agree, Madonna wasn't bad, but Antonio really stole the show. He brings to the movie incredible latin style. Also very good Jonathan Pryse as president Peron. This movie was very well directed and have very good cast. But, best in Evita, of course, are music and songs. With excellent songs and pretty good singing Evita becomes on of the best musical movies ever made. Alan Parker bring out the political climate from that years very well. Maybe whole movie was too political, but now too many time have passed and nobody shouldn't care about that. Best songs for me are Don't cry for me Argentina and nearly all Antonio's songs. In fact, only one minor problem in the movie is that Madonna in the beginning of the movie looks too old.

Worth seeing for any music and movie lover. Sorry for my bad English

8,1 out of 10.