Evita (1996)
The story of Eva Peron
Starring: Madonna, Antonio Banderas, Jonathan Pryce, Jimmy Nail, Victoria Sus, Julian Littman, Olga Merediz, Laura Pallas, Julia Worsley, Maria Lujan Hidalgo, Seryando Villamil, Andrea Corr, Peter Polycarpou, Gary Brooker, Maite Yerro
Director: Alan Parker
Running Time: 134 minutes
US MPAA rating: N/AUK BBFC rating: PG
Drama, Musical
On DVD I think it best to point out from the off that I'm not entirely against musicals. I mean, hey - I love Little Shop of Horrors! And 'Bugsy Malone'? Great stuff. But 'Evita', I've decided, is not a musical. It's a noise. That's the only way I can describe a film that substitutes good quality individual songs for the needless warbling of every last word, never stopping to care whether there's any sort of decent melody involved or not. From start to finish, 'Evita' is just one long, painful 134-minute noise.
Madonna struggles her way through the role of Eva Peron, the third most famous thing to come out of Argentina after Diego Maradona and tax evasion. In the first half of the 20th Century, she became the missus of Argentinean president Juan Peron (here played by Jonathan Pryce), and swiftly won over the working classes with her humble background and nice hair.
Told via the remarkably tuneless music of Andrew Lloyd Webber, watching the film is genuinely exhausting, with every 20 minutes feeling more like two hours. God knows how long this thing would have dragged on for if the poor woman had actually lived beyond her 30s. Yet, despite its mind-numbing length, the plot itself seems rushed and tells us little about who "Evita" actually was. Tim Rice's lyrics, if you can be bothered making the huge effort required to listen to them, offer little insight into why any of the events covered are actually happening, and much of what is being sung is basically nonsense.
Others taking part include craggy-faced Geordie Jimmy Nail as a bar-room crooner (which must be a real drag considering he sings each sentence in everyday life anyway) and Irish songstress Andrea Corr as Pressie Juan's bit on the side. Most bizarre of all, however, is Antonio Banderas in a role akin to that squeaky-voiced teen from 'The Simpsons' who literally works everywhere. Wherever the story moves, Banderas is there - sweeping the floor, waiting on tables, working the projector in the President's private cinema. It seems he can do just about anything except sing without making silly over-exaggerated faces.
DVD Extras: It doesn't have any.
It's Got: Lots of weeping. Well, at least it's a break from the singing.
It Needs: Considerably better music (the ditty about wanting to be part of the "Buenos Aires big apple" is particularly awful).
Alternatives: Moulin Rouge, Chicago
Summary: Dreadful songs being poorly sung and a story being poorly told. I'd rather listen to fingernails being dragged along a blackboard than have to sit through this again.
Review by Gary Panton
External Links
Evita at the IMDB
Comments8 Comments |
| Gary Panton's a dumbass. This movie was really well done. It tells the story of Evita's life and her life in Argentina. It's not about entertainment: it's telling a story. |
| Comment by:- Bill | | 03 June 2004 | ip: logged |
| Oi, heathen! How can you possibly rate so poorly a film that brings us so many wonderful moments of Antonio Banderas? Do you have no appreciation of the finer things in life? And then to actually mock the element of this film that makes me go back and watch it time and again...you just don't get it at all do you? |
| Comment by:- Jax | | 14 August 2004 | ip: logged |
| I happen to turn on the TV to find a musical in which I've never seen. Within seconds I was turning green and could not explain the sudden wave of nausea, that is until I saw Madonna. Lousy adaptation of a mediocre production. Please, leave this sort of thing to the stage. Where is Fiddler on the Roof? Oi! |
| Comment by:- TOm | | 04 September 2004 | ip: logged |
| The only reason the musical is interesting to watch is because it was filmed as one long madonna video. Let's face it sound mastering (fixing her voice) and music videos made Madonna. Her voice was still pretty awful but she looked. Antonio looked good but only Melanie Griffith has seen more contorted facial expressions I suppose. |
| Comment by:- MJ | | 05 September 2004 | ip: logged |
| I think your review of Evita was on line to a degree, but I also think that the movie warrants a little respect. It is historically accurate and tells a tale that most people won't ever see, a controversial woman who was either loved dearly or hated fiercely and whose death left a country without a sense of self. If given the history of Eva's life the movie becomes alive. I teach upper level Spanish classes and I usually show the video two times during the unit. The purpose is to gage their interest before and after studying the life of Eva Duarte de Perón. After watching it one time the kids generally have the same opinion as you, but after going into great detail about her life you would be surprised to find out that 99% of my kids ended up liking the movie the second time around. The movie is more than just bad songs; it is a historically correct account of a life that changed Argentina forever. I lived there for years and I know first hand the hatred and love they had for her, and I was there when they filmed it. The Argentines were proud of this movie and I am too as I look past the bad music and look into the words, messages, and questions that are brought to life in this film. It help us to see her from viewpoints of the people who supported her (i.e. Most women and the Poor Class), and from the people who opposed her (i.e. The upper class and the Military) This helps the kids realize that we need to view people from different points of view before we can judge them, as you might do with this movie review. I am using your review in my classes and will have the kids respond to you in their own words after all is said and done. I will not tell them I wrote you and I never try to sway opinion. The purpose of this unit is for them to decide what they will think about Eva and her impact and I thought you might enjoy hearing what some of my students said of your review. |
| Comment by:- NW | | 08 December 2004 | ip: logged |
| NW - thankyou very much for your comments. Your students are more than welcome to e-mail me with their views (you can get the address by clicking on my name) - I'd be happy to read them. |
| Comment by:- Gary Panton | www.movie-gazette.com... | 08 December 2004 | ip: logged |
| I think your reviews was not written seriously. It your opinion, and it is okay. |
| Comment by:- dfv | | 15 December 2004 | ip: logged |
| I'm sorry...did you actually watch the movie? |
| Comment by:- kim | | 21 December 2004 | ip: logged |
