Review of Evita (1996) by Blake C — 02 Sep 2008

The thing is, it was just too easy to cast Madonna in this role. She does an excellent job--it's the forgotten Really Good Madonna Performance, possibly the only Really Good Madonna Performance--but, as with [i]Desperately Seeking Susan[/i], I'm not sure how much actual acting was involved. Certainly there wasn't much makeup involved. I've seen pictures of Eva Perón, the [i]real[/i] Eva Perón. It's actually pretty creepy, like comparing pictures of Val Kilmer and Jim Morrison. It's not the only reason either was cast as the other, but it's a damn good start.

She is born Eva Duarte, the child of a middle class man's lower-class mistress. The film (and possibly the original stage show; I have neither seen it nor read the book) posits that Eva's great drive to be the center of attention may well have something to do with the sense of rejection and abandonment from her father's funeral, where Eva (Evita means "little Eva") and her family were barred. Eva then grows up to use men as a ladder, starting with Agustín Magaldi (Jimmy Nail), a tango singer, and ending with Juan Perón, one of the most powerful men in all Argentina. She helps him acheive his ultimate goal, becoming President. He knows her past; she knows his. Each knows that the other is using them as a route to power. Each is content with that, and they do love each other, at least as much as either of them is really capable of loving anyone else.

How much is this the real Eva Perón? A fine question. The fun thing is, no one seems to agree. Some see her as less conniving. Some see her as some sort of guerilla freedom fighter, apparently. It is certainly true that the real Eva never met the real Che (Antonio Banderas)--he is at least theoretically based on Che Guevara. The real Juan Perón is not so pleasant a guy, from what I understand; oddly, he had the bad luck to marry two women who died of ovarian cancer (his third wife is still alive). Further, as Che puts it, "They equate Perón with Mussolini/Can't think why." (Why has a great deal to do with Perón's having been essentially a trainee of Mussolini for a while.) He curiously both allowed Nazi war criminals sanctuary and had one of the most Jewish-friendly governments in the region. The Peróns were beloved and hated in Argentina; which depended on who you were.

Speaking to the rest of it, I really like it as a musical. Or, closer, opera--Madonna speaks 140 words, Antonio Banderas just six. Whether or not the Evita here is the true Eva becomes beside the point. This is a woman who can fit 85 costume changes into 134 minutes. Madonna portrays her as bold, brash, determined. She easily handles the singing, of course, and since the Evita she's playing is pretty much her own public persona, no worries there, either. Antonio Banderas is, well, sexy, for one, but he also more than adequately handles his own singing. (I once heard a rumour that he'd been cast as the Phantom of the Opera; that would have made for a much better movie.) He also gets his acting in, and Che requires a much greater range than Evita does. He plays several "characters" within the story as well. I also think it's pretty well-filmed, and the costuming--well. It set a world record for costume changes, apparently, having beat out [i]Cleopatra[/i].

Oh, don't get me wrong. I've seen better. I'm just not sure anyone could have done this particular show better. I'm frankly only so-so on the subject of Andrew Lloyd Webber in the first place. At least this is one of his movies that I can watch without feeling embarassed by it, unlike [i]Jesus Christ Superstar[/i].