Review of Evita (2009) by Daniel T — 25 Jun 2008
Those who wine about Alan Parker's film of Lloyd Webber's best musical should be grateful that Oliver Stone was reduced from being director to screenplay adapter before this one hit the big screen.
The movie is gorgeous from every angle. It's a wonder of cinematography (possibly my favorite cinematography), costuming, scenic design and often editing (although, there are some moments of continuity problems that make me insane.
) Musically the movie is quite good - Cullen and Lloyd Webber do a fantastic job of doing huge, overly-romantic orchestrations here - but there are a couple of sour notes. Madonna isn't Oscar-worthy (she sometimes seems lost in Rice's very political and very British lyrics), but she does give an often passionate performance.
Pryce is physically completely wrong for his role but his performance is actually quite good. The real star of the show though is Banderas, whose voice and acting are worthy of the highest of accolades.
Under Parker's direction, Che is no longer Che Guevara but rather an everyman, a Greek chorus of sorts, and Banderas fills him with all the energy and passion of Argentina. A truly brilliant performance in a vastly underrated film.
This review of Evita (2009) was written by Daniel T on 25 Jun 2008.
Evita has generally received positive reviews.
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