Evita (1996) Director: Alan Parker Watched: 6/20/18 Rating: 7/10 {Clue: "Don't Cry for Me ____"} At more than two hours definitely needs some extra work in the cutting room, Ranges too much in mood and tone- from tragic to comedic to romantic to melodramatic, Gorgeous costumes and set design accompanied by naggingly catchy but lovable songs, Enthusiastically sung "everyman" Greek chorus by a comical-cynical-combative Antonio Banderas, Narrative style ingeniously allows for dual political views in a fun and melodious manner (though unfairly slanted towards the anti-Peronist), Takes Evita's negative personality traits and disproportionately magnifies them- we see an icon rather than the woman, Impersonal performance by a convincing looking Madonna- but was that not Eva María Duarte de Perón in real life: powerfully inaccessible? Not historically accurate in its details- but further research reveals only more mystery and myth, And now most of the world has learned about a woman it would not have otherwise! ---- Acrostic is a form of poetry where the first letters in each line, paragraph, or word are doubly used to spell a name, phrase, or word. The word "acrostic" comes from the Greek words "akros" (outermost) and "stichos" (line of verse). Read the appropriate letters in the poem vertically to reveal the extra message, called the "acrostich"! #Acrostic #PoemReview #Controversy #GoldenGlobesBestPicture #Musical #StageToScreen

I had seen the film poster and had known the three leading stars for years, and I knew one of the songs featuring, I was hoping it would be good, based on the hit Broadway musical by Lord Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber and Sir Tim Rice, directed by Golden Globe nominated Alan Parker (Bugsy Malone). Basically the film tells the story of Eva "Evita" Duarte de Perón (Golden Globe winning Madonna), as told by storyteller Ché (Golden Globe nominated Antonio Banderas) (named after Ché Guevara), who acts as the view for both the people of the rural community and high society. Young Eva (María Luján Hidalgo) started life in poverty as the daughter of a farmer, but as a teenager she got attached to Latin singer Agustín Magaldi ("Ain't No Doubt" singer Jimmy Nail) and accompanied him to the big city, Buenos Aires, there she rose from being a poor rural girl to being an aspiring actress. Eva becomes more famous through film and radio, eventually moving moving into influential circles within Buenos Aires society, her name soon becomes linked to rising politician Juan Perón (Jonathan Pryce), this quickly creates interest, and soon after marrying Perón is elected President, with the inspirational Eva by his side. As First Lady and Spiritual Leader of the Nation of Argentina, Eva attracts attention like no other woman before or since, hypnotising eighteen million people for seven years with her huge political influence and constant charity work, gaining adoration and love from workers and (Spanish) liberals, but disdain and fear from the military and upper classes. This public and political interest, both positive and negative, being the most hated and the most beloved woman of Argentina, continued until the untimely death of Eva, passing away from cancer at the age of 33, nearly three million people attended the funeral in the streets of Buenos Aires. Also starring Victoria Sus as Doña Juana, Julian Littman as Brother Juan, Olga Merediz as Blanca, Laura Pallas as Elisa Duarte, Julia Worsley as Erminda, Andrea Corr as Perón's Mistress and Peter Polycarpou as Domingo Mercante. With Desparetely Seeking Susan (perhaps Dick Tracy and A League of Their Own also), this is the only enjoyable performance by the "Queen of Pop", the less said about Body of Evidence, Die Another Day (apart from her song) and Swept Away the better, Madonna is very good as she goes through all the triumphs and traumas of the First Lady of Argentina. Pryce as the up and coming President and Banderas as the everyman revolutionary get their moments, but Madonna and most of the songs are the big hook to the film, the best song for me being "Don't Cry for Me Argentina", it does get slightly tedious with hardly any dialogue and mostly all singing, the story of a girl going from nothing to something is alright, and the political stuff didn't grab me, overall it's not a bad musical biography. It won the Oscar for Best Song for "You Must Love Me" (it also won the Golden Globe), and it was nominated for Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Best Sound and Best Film Editing, and it was nominated the BAFTAs for the Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music for Lloyd Webber and Rice, Best Adapted Screenplay for Alan Parker and Oliver Stone, Best Cinematography, Best Production Design, Best Costume Design, Best Editing, Best Sound and Best Make Up/Hair. Worth watching!

The life story of "Evita" as portrayed by pop singer Madonna and directed by Alan Parker. For someone knowing very little about the subject, this film is a quite a chore to sit through. It's over two hours long, without much plot, and we begins with the elaborate funeral of its lead character. Since the subject, Eva Duarte, was evidently engaging, and played by another fascinating woman, the film is disappointing. In one scene, she gives away money by throwing it at people. The material girl's jewels and wardrobe must be worth millions...Lost is why so many remember Evita, but forget Michael J. Brody Jr....The story is told in operatic fashion. Yet, it is not a traditional opera, or musical - it is like a silent film in color, with dubbed songs and a synchronized sound effects track. In lieu of title cards, handsome Antonio Banderas (as Che) sings about the woman he professes to dislike, but we know he really loves. The dubbing works best with Madonna, who is quite convincing in her "sing acting" - especially on the film's best song, "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina" (a great one, composed by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber), but the melding of music and motion picture is otherwise mechanical. The film lacks heart.***** Evita (12/14/96) Alan Parker ~ Madonna, Antonio Banderas, Jonathan Pryce, Jimmy Nail

Although musicals were a highly theatrical form during the last quarter of the twentieth century, the traditional cinema musical declined during this period; "Evita" was one of the few stage musicals to transfer to the cinema screen. Most cinematic musicals of the period ("Fame" being a good example and "Grease" a rare exception) generally use spoken dialogue to convey emotion, with the characters only singing and dancing in situations where people would sing and dance in real life. "Evita", however, goes to the opposite extreme. It is more like an opera than to a traditional musical, with little spoken dialogue, almost everything being sung.   Eva Perón was, and remains, a controversial figure, both in her native Argentina and internationally, but there can be little doubt that she was also a remarkable one. (I cannot imagine any other female political leader from Latin America who could have inspired a hit musical). "Evita" has always had a special interest for me, both as a stage production and as a film, because I used to have an Argentine girlfriend, and our first date was to see the stage version; she was able to explain a lot of the political background to me. Eva's husband Juan Perón is often thought of, at least in Europe and North America, as a "fascist", but (as my girlfriend was quick to point out) there was a big difference between him and other Latin American leaders referred to by this term. The likes of Pinochet, Stroessner and Galtieri were military strongmen who ruled by force of arms; any support they might have enjoyed among the civilian population came largely from their countries' upper classes. Perón, by contrast, was a populist leader with links to the trade unions who enjoyed strong working-class support. Despite his military background he was distrusted by his fellow military leaders and loathed by Argentina's social elite, who saw him as a jumped-up demagogue. Although his regime was undoubtedly an authoritarian one, he was also responsible for instituting many social reforms, and the strength of his legacy can be gauged by the fact that since 1946, Peronist candidates have won eight of the ten Argentine presidential elections that they have not been banned from participating in; the current president, Cristina Kirchner, is a Peronist. Eva played an important role in her husband's rise to power, rallying his supporters when he was arrested by the military dictatorship, and during his time in office she was virtually canonised by the party faithful, who saw her as the "spiritual leader of the nation". The film, like the stage musical, traces her life from her impoverished childhood, through her rise to fame as an actress, her marriage to Perón and her time as first lady to her tragic death from cancer at the age of 33. The film essentially tells the same story as the stage show, but makes two major changes. In the stage production, Eva leaves her first lover, the singer Agustín Magaldi; in the film he abandons her to return to his wife. The reason, it seems, is to make the young Eva a more sympathetic and vulnerable character, and possibly also to give Madonna the chance to perform one of the show's hit songs, "Another Suitcase in Another Hall", which on stage is sung by Perón's mistress. The second major change concerns the character of Che, who here becomes an everyman figure and is not identified with the historical Che Guevara. (It is said that the left-leaning director Alan Parker made this change because he did not like the way Guevara, an idol of the Left, had been treated by the right-leaning lyricist Tim Rice). If anything, the "Che" of the movie is more of a disillusioned Peronist- we see him marching as one of the "descamisados" who sweep Perón to power- than a Communist. Madonna has not always struck me as the world's greatest actress, and it was a brave move on Parker's part to cast her here ahead of established actresses like Liza Minnelli and Michelle Pfeiffer. Although she had given decent performances in films like "Desperately Seeking Susan" and "A League of their Own", she had also given some lousy ones, "Body of Evidence" being a notorious example. Parker's gamble paid off; Madonna had campaigned hard for the part, describing it as a "role she was born to play", and was able to make good her boast. She gives here the greatest acting performance of her career, able to bring out all the contrasting sides of Eva's personality, making her not merely a strong and determined woman but also a vulnerable and tragic one. Madonna, of course, was a singer before she was an actress, so may have been helped by the fact that her role is almost entirely sung rather than spoken. Jonathan Pryce is also good as Perón, played here less passionate and less determined than his wife, but also a wily political opportunist. Antonio Banderas makes a charismatic Che, although I felt his singing voice was not always up to the role. The film's great strength, of course, is the combination of Rice's lyrics and Andrew Lloyd Webber's music, which combine to produce some of the most memorable songs in the modern musical theatre. Sometimes these are mordantly cynical ("Oh What a Circus", "Goodnight and Thank You", "Peron's Latest Flame"), sometimes lyrical and poignant.( "Another Suitcase in Another Hall", "Don't Cry for Me Argentina"), and sometimes they manage to combine both moods ("I'd Be Surprisingly Good for You"). I should also mention Parker's direction and his ability to find striking visual images to complement the songs. "Evita" triumphantly proved that, even in the nineties, there was still life in the cinematic musical. A goof. We see Magaldi performing at a concert in 1944, which would have been clever of him, given that he died in 1938.