An adaptation of the stage musical by Andrew Lloyd Weber and Tim Rice, this film features a host of stars, including Madonna as Eva Peron, Antonio Banderas, and Jimmy Nail. Many of the songs are well known including ‘Don’t cry for me Argentina’ and ‘Another suitcase in another hall’. The film follows the life of Eva Peron, wife of the Argentinean President Juan Peron, from her working-class childhood in a small town, through her career as an actress and her political career, to her terminal illness and death.
The film opens with the death of Eva Peron, and is told in retrospect by Che Guevara (Antonio Banderas), a political revolutionary, who acts as the narrator. The opening scenes are of her funeral, and the mourning of the population. We go back to Eva’s early life before her rise to stardom, and meet her as a teenager eager to make her way in the world. She has an affair with a singer (Jimmy Nail), and uses this as an excuse for him to take her to Buenos Aires, only to find that he is married. This starts
a long string of affairs and relationships, which she uses in order to advance her career.
Eva meets Juan Peron at a charity gala, and quickly moves in to his life – ejecting the girl who was already waiting in his bed. She immediately uses her new position and influence to further Peron’s career, advertising him as a man of the people. The middle class and aristocracy resent the interference of a working class actress in the political area, but this makes no difference to Eva’s agenda. When Peron is imprisoned by his enemies, she continues to campaign for his release. Her ambition even stretches to creating a fund to improve the living conditions of the poor, but as the film suggests, even this is not free from corruption.
She goes on to a tour of Europe, but this has to be cut short, as she becomes unwell. Even when she returns home, her previously inexhaustible pace and energy is waning, but she carries on nevertheless. Eventually she collapses and is admitted to hospital. She dies shortly afterwards, plunging the country into mourning.
The central character in the film is, of course, Eva herself and Madonna plays her with flare and style. Her voice is eminently suited to the demands of the songs, and she acts the part well. The other main character, Che, is also well played by Antonio Banderas, and is a good combination of narrator, revolutionary, and just moody good-looks.
The film encompasses the whole of Eva’s adult life, and rushes through events that lasted many years. I feel that the content of the film is too large to be able to treat it properly – we get a taste of many of the things that happened to Eva, but never a full description. For this reason, none of the characters, except Eva herself, is ever developed fully, and we are “told” what their feelings and reactions are, rather than actually seeing them. For example, during Eva’s rise to power, one song deals with the reaction of the middle classes, and the lyrics tell us that they feel “she should not get out of bed”. However, this song is sung by well dressed people sitting at polo matches, and we never actually ‘see’ any of the events that it describes; we never see Eva being ignored, snubbed, or insulted by any of these people. This gives the whole film a superficial quality, as if it is a story only half-told.
One of the more interesting relationships in the film is that between Eva and Juan Peron. It is clear that Eva is only using the relationship as a means to an end, and that she feels nothing more that a mild attraction to Juan. Juan, however, is more in love with Eva, and she only comes to realise this at the end of her life. This makes the scenes around her death more poignant, as we feel the emotion of someone who loved her not as a celebrity, but as a person.
In summary, I thoroughly enjoyed this film. Weber and Rice’s music is, as always, superb, and it is beautifully sung and acted. I feel, however, that it treats its content too lightly and superficially, and it offers little insight into the thoughts and motivation of the characters involved. As a piece of entertainment, it is very enjoyable, and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a good story set to good music.
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Production Year: 1999 - Music / Performing Arts - Original Language: English - Classification: Exempt - Starring: Donny Osmond, Joan Collins, Richard Attenborough
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