This movie plays much better now than it did when it was made 22 years ago. The character of Evita is a Kardashian who went into politics, offering the poor content-free populism combined with vicarious luxury and impulsive, haphazard charity. Her message to the adoring masses is, "I am just like you, only more so, so live through me." It worked in Argentina then. It works in the US of A today.
Aside from the fact that snobby upper class people don't like Evita, we don't get any sense of political context. You need to know a little Argentine history to know that Peron gained his popularity by being the pro-union Minister of Labor under a revolving door military junta. Only then do the brief packing house scenes make any sense. And the movie gives no idea of what Peron thought he was trying to accomplish economically or why he failed. Webber and Parker aren't interested in anything except the dynamics of Evita's celebrity.
Unfortunately, Madonna is the hole in the center of the movie. Her performance as the title character "sleeping" her way to the top in a patriarchy where men control everything is wooden, her voice thin, and her sufferings at the end completely uninvolving.
Two things make the movie worth watching. First, the ensemble numbers and crowd scenes -- Good Night and Thank You, The Government We Deserve, Peron's Newest Flame and The New Argentina have great vitality. Second, Banderas is wonderful as Che. That's a common Argentine nickname, and Parker wrote the character as an Argentine everyman instead of Castro's bearded sidekick. It works. Whether he's a janitor, a worker, a demonstrator, a newspaper reporter or one of the rich, Banderas brings off the role of running commentator with great panache, powerful singing, and just enough of an accent (those rolling Rs in Casa Rrrrrrosada).
And there's one good line. As she's pushing past a crowd of leftist demonstrators in Italy, Evita angrily asks the Argentine ambassador, "Did you hear that? They called me a whore" He replies calmly, "It's an easy mistake. They still call me Admiral even though I left the sea long ago."
Aside from the fact that snobby upper class people don't like Evita, we don't get any sense of political context. You need to know a little Argentine history to know that Peron gained his popularity by being the pro-union Minister of Labor under a revolving door military junta. Only then do the brief packing house scenes make any sense. And the movie gives no idea of what Peron thought he was trying to accomplish economically or why he failed. Webber and Parker aren't interested in anything except the dynamics of Evita's celebrity.
Unfortunately, Madonna is the hole in the center of the movie. Her performance as the title character "sleeping" her way to the top in a patriarchy where men control everything is wooden, her voice thin, and her sufferings at the end completely uninvolving.
Two things make the movie worth watching. First, the ensemble numbers and crowd scenes -- Good Night and Thank You, The Government We Deserve, Peron's Newest Flame and The New Argentina have great vitality. Second, Banderas is wonderful as Che. That's a common Argentine nickname, and Parker wrote the character as an Argentine everyman instead of Castro's bearded sidekick. It works. Whether he's a janitor, a worker, a demonstrator, a newspaper reporter or one of the rich, Banderas brings off the role of running commentator with great panache, powerful singing, and just enough of an accent (those rolling Rs in Casa Rrrrrrosada).
And there's one good line. As she's pushing past a crowd of leftist demonstrators in Italy, Evita angrily asks the Argentine ambassador, "Did you hear that? They called me a whore" He replies calmly, "It's an easy mistake. They still call me Admiral even though I left the sea long ago."