EVITA
A film review by Scott Renshaw
Copyright 1996 Scott Renshaw
(Hollywood/Cinergi) Starring: Madonna, Antonio Banderas, Jonathan Pryce. Screenplay: Alan Parker, Oliver Stone. Producers: Alan Parker, Robert Stigwood, Andrew G. Vajna. Director: Alan Parker. MPAA Rating: PG (adult themes, mild profanity) Running Time: 135 minutes. Reviewed by Scott Renshaw.
For a project which took forever to find a director and a star, EVITA sure ended up with the natural choice in both categories. There aren't too many directors in the last thirty years who have directed one live-action musical; Alan Parker has directed two (BUGSY MALONE and PINK FLOYD THE WALL), and the latter was probably the last through-sung English-language film. Madonna, meanwhile, has spent her life preparing for the role of Eva Peron -- a controversial figure accused of sleeping her way to the top and who re-invented herself to become a woman of uncommon influence and power. Well, one of them fulfilled the promise, anyway. Parker has made EVITA a compelling visual spectacle, but his leading lady doesn't provide the same vibrant quality, even though it seems she is trying desperately to do so.
EVITA opens in 1952, with the overwhelming emotional response of the Argentinian people to the death of their First Lady, Eva Peron (Madonna) from cancer at the age of 32. A cynical narrator named Che (Antonio Banderas) then proceeds to examine who this woman was, and flashes back through her life, beginning with her childhood as the illegitimate daughter of a middle-class businessman. The young Eva Duarte becomes determined to find fame and fortune, and heads to Buenos Aires on the coattails of a popular nightclub singer (Jimmy Nail) she seduces. Sleeping her way to success as a model, radio personality and film actress, Eva eventually meets Juan Peron (Jonathan Pryce), an up-and-coming colonel in Argentina's military regime. With Eva by his side, Peron becomes a populist president of Argentina, and Eva becomes a figure as revered for her acts of charity as she is reviled for her self-promotion.
One of the reasons Andrew Lloyd Webber's musicals have been so successful is that they combine the appeal of grand opera with an accessible pop sensibility, and it would seem difficult to capture that operatic feel in a film. Alan Parker, however, has exactly the visual style required for a production like EVITA. The funeral scenes which open the film have an impressive scope, captured in mournful tones by cinematographer Darius Khondji (SEVEN), and there is a flow between scenes which is both theatrical and cinematic. Parker does his job by turning in a larger-than-life presentation of a larger-than-life woman.
EVITA is a story told almost entirely through the songs, and Parker doesn't add any radical new interpretations with his direction. There are a few changes to the material, notably the addition of the new Webber/Tim Rice composition "You Must Love Me" which could have been dropped into any Disney animated musical and been just as suitable, but other changes are more interesting and effective. The plaintive "Another Suitcase in Another Hall," originally a song for one of Peron's discarded mistresses, works better as Eva's awakening to taking advantage of her own sexuality. Some exciting arrangements also give new kick to Webber's tunes. "Buenos Aires" gets a swirl of percussion to match Eva's drive, and "I'd Be Surprisingly Good for You" has a seductive swing. Certain songs do have a dated, jangly 70s guitar sound, but the characteristic infectious bombast of Webber's compositions holds up surprisingly well.
What works far less well is the presentation of the film's three central -- and, for all practical purposes, only -- characters. Antonio Banderas brings his appealing swagger to Che, as well as a voice which compensates for a weak lower range with some sweet high notes. Che is the voice of Eva's critics, yet he isn't a complete character, and neither is Juan Peron. Pryce is a versatile, talented performer, but he shrinks into the background as soon as Juan and Eva marry. That leaves Madonna to carry the dramatic weight of EVITA, and it is plenty clear that she is eager to prove she can handle it. She acts the heck out of the role, gesticulating for all she's worth and looking appropriately sallow when Eva is ill, but something is missing. Madonna understands determination, and she can convey it; charisma is another story. You can't act a magnetic personality, and Madonna is left to play benevolence without the force of will which makes her uncertain motives intriguing. The irony is that, for someone who has made a career of not caring about how people perceive her, Madonna seems to want too much to be liked and respected as an actress. Her EVITA lacks mystery, making Alan Parker's film a sweeping piece of visual theater with a star who wants to step into the audience and thank everyone for coming.
On the Renshaw scale of 0 to 10 dolce Evitas: 6.
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