EVITA
A film review by Walter Frith
Copyright 1997 Walter Frith
Andrew Lloyd Weber and Tim Rice's internationally acclaimed musical 'Evita' is now a big screen motion picture featuring a sweeping pace despite its running time of approximately two hours and fifteen minutes. Some may come out feeling as if they've watched an extended music video and that feeling is justified but the integrity and originality of the play is kept intact by director Alan Parker. Parker is certainly no stranger to orchestrating and piecing together films with a musical background. 'Fame' (1980) and 'The Committments' (1991) are examples of Parker's talent and his eye for dramatization is nothing to shy away from, either, as his craft in that department was established with 'Midnight Express' (1978) and 'Mississippi Burning' (1988). Madonna who at first was a controversial choice to play the title role stars as Eva Duarte, a poor Spanish woman who rose to national and international attention when she married Argentinian dictator Juan Peron and campaigned to help the poor while politicizing her own gains and that of her husbands. Despite being a target for many years by critics, Madonna is electrifying in the picture and will probably receive an Oscar nomination for her work. Juan Peron is played in a straight forward manner by Jonathan Pryce and Antonio Banderas is Che, a man who follows the everyday antics of Eva. Fans of the musical will be pleased to see it revived as this is an almost zero speaking picture and 99.9999% song. It's vivid re-creation of that period is matched extensively by panoramic camera work. 'Evita' will probably be enjoyed better by people who have seen the play but for those new to the material, I don't think you'll be disappointed.
OUT OF 5> * * * 1/2
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