EVITA (1996) *** I didn't know much about Argentine politics in the mid 20th century going in, and I don't know much more coming out. Forget the subject matter and Oliver Stone as screenwriter, this isn't a political film. It also isn't much about Madonna, even though she's in nearly every shot. She's right smack in the middle of damn near every shot, but is somehow just some barely noticeable periphria. The fear would be that Madonna doing Eva Peron could get lurid quickly and stay there, but the fact is that only the most general hints are present that the concourse of sex had even been invented at that time. There's nothing great about Madonna's portrayal, but nothing much wrong with it either. In fact none of the actors seem to odd or detract from the film in any way. I've seen Antonio Banderas pull off some badass performances, but here as Che Guevara (as El Ché!) he doesn't seem to be anyone to worry much about. But his faces are funny and, like Madonna, he seems more than adequate for the demands of the music. The music isn't always demanding, but it's damn good. Andrew Lloyd Webber has a gift for weaving simple musical themes into a matter of fine complexity, and I don't know if he's ever done that better than here. The schmaltz bits would satisfy any schmaltzmeister, but there are also some very hard-edged themes that accompany Alan Parker's incredible collages of civil unrest. It's a clinic on how to mix music and choreography and flashbacks and scenery and mob scenes and personal moments in bas relief, and a damn informing one at that. It's a clinic so sound that it's enjoyable for even the uninitiated, and with a theme that maybe occurs as a secondary fringe benefit. Afterwards, I eventually found myself wondering whether Ms Peron was a self-possessed egomaniac who sold out everything that had ever been dear to her; or just a stylish slut; or a case of the heart of a saint caught in a social climber who destroyed herself by trying to stay true to her ideals while everything that she was attracted to corroded them.and I guess it's an indictment of the film that I didn't feel that it offered much in the way of answers. It did, though, provoke the questions.
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