wincywschan
Beautiful music. I watch it every few years. Still find it is one of the best.
Jihad F Haidar
You shouldn't watch Evita if you are not a fan of musicals. Characters mainly only connect via songs, that literally there just might be an entire song for just a conversation, which is what made some people dislike this movie. Me? I loved it. Madonna is always shamed for being a bad actress, but for Madonna when acting is with singing and dancing in full force, no one can beat her at this, which is proved if you watch the movie. The movie follows the story of Eva Peron (nee Duarte), a B-Movie Argentine Actress that becomes the first lady of Argentina. When I saw the movie I didn't except to see a documentary and archive footage and interviews and historical sources, and I wasn't disappointed, because even the storyline is based on historical events, Juan Peron, Eva Peron and Argentine history and Eva's life, it is based on the musical show, hence why it's much more theatrical. All the songs are charming, the music really touches your soul, the direction is amazing, the acting is superb and the scenery and mis-en scene is flawless. The only reason I think people would hate this movie for is mainly because it features Madonna, and the public and critics ADORE firing negative flashback at her, or that the film is basically a long form music video, and it was the first legit musical in Hollywood since a long time, so people possibly expected more than just a long musical number. But if you love musicals, this is 100% for you.
Python Hyena
Evita (1996): Dir: Alan Parker / Cast: Madonna, Antonio Banderas, Jonathan Pryce, Jimmy Nail, Olga Merediz: Almost every aspect of this film is musical with dialogue expressed beautifully by lyrics. Madonna stars as Evita, the wife of a political leader and how she pulls her way to the top. Expertly crafted and executed brilliantly by director Alan Parker who has made great musicals before with Fame and Pink Floyd: The Wall. Madonna's voice compliments the material as she pours emotion through song. She is an aid to her political significant other but all attention falls on her even up to her death through illness. This is easily the best performance from a musician whose critics have not been kind to her in the past. Antonio Banderas is also effective as the narrator who expresses his views through lyrics and makes a great musical counter to Madonna's veteran skills. He will be there until the end just as he is in translating it all to us. Jonathan Pryce is well cast as a political figure overshadowed by her presence but ultimately benefiting greatly. Jimmy Nail as a tango dancer she has an affair with could have been less predictable but at any rate it further skirts Evita under the radar. Spectacular art direction and massive production highlight a message of manipulation. Madonna is not accustom to great films but here she is at her best in a role she was born to play and she sparkles. Score: 9 ½ / 10
tavm
I had first heard about Evita through a parody: "SCTV" did a parody ad for a musical called "Indira" about Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi (portrayed by Andrea Martin) which had her singing "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina" with Slim Whitman (Joe Flaherty) warbling the male part before segueing to another song. I then saw the actual commercials for "Evita" with, I think, Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin doing those songs I previously saw spoofed on that "SCTV" spot. So over 30 years later, I finally watched the film version of the Andrew Lloyd Webber-Tim Rice musical with Madonna essaying the title role. She's quite good singing songs different from her set list especially on the one original song for the movie-"You Must Love Me". Having her veer from caring to shallow and back was also partly natural especially considering the contradictory versions of Evita's life I read about recounted on Wikipedia after seeing the movie. So, yes, she deserves high praise for taking this role and gets much help from both Antonio Banderas as Che and Jonathan Pryce as Eva's eventual husband, Juan Peron. In summary, I highly enjoyed Evita.
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