Evita (1996)

The hit musical based on the life of Evita Duarte, a B-picture Argentinian actress who eventually became the wife of Argentinian president Juan Perón, and the most beloved and hated woman in Argentina.

Director:

Alan Parker

Writers:

Tim Rice (book), Alan Parker (screenplay)

Stars:

Madonna, Jonathan Pryce, Antonio Banderas

Won 1 Oscar. Another 17 wins & 41 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Madonna	...	Eva Perón
Antonio Banderas	...	Ché
Jonathan Pryce	...	Juan Perón
Jimmy Nail	...	Agustín Magaldi
Victoria Sus	...	Doña Juana
Julian Littman	...	Brother Juan
Olga Merediz	...	Blanca
Laura Pallas	...	Elisa Duarte
Julia Worsley	...	Erminda
María Luján Hidalgo	...	Young Eva (as Maria Lujan Hidalgo)
Servando Villamil	...	Cipriano Reyes
Andrea Corr	...	Perón's Mistress
Peter Polycarpou	...	Domingo Mercante
Gary Brooker	...	Juan Bramuglia
Maite Yerro	...	Julieta (as Mayte Yerro)

Storyline

High-flying, adored! The film adaptation of the hit Broadway musical depicting the infamous real-life story of Eva "Evita" Duarte de Peron, the wife of President Juan Peron, who rose from poverty to become the most famous Argentine woman in history. Her huge political influence and constant charity works earned her scorn and fear from the military and upper classes but adoration and love from the workers and descamisados. Evita's legendary life is displayed before your eyes as the most hated and most beloved woman in Argentina.

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Plot Keywords:

argentina | actress | politics | military | singer | 

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Taglines:

The Most Anticipated Motion Picture Event of The Year

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | History | Musical

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for thematic elements, images of violence and some mild language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 January 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ebîta

Filming Locations:

Argentina

Box Office

Budget:

$55,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$195,085, 29 December 1996, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$50,047,179, 8 May 1997

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$91,000,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hollywood Pictures,Cinergi Pictures Entertainment,Dirty Hands Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

135 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Olivia Newton-John seriously lobbied for the title role when the project was in development in 1979/1980. After the box-office failure of Xanadu (1980), Olivia reconsidered her offer.

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Goofs

When Eva is in her bed towards the end of the movie, she has blue eyes.

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Quotes

Ché: How she lived. How she shone. But how soon the lights were gone.

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Crazy Credits

In the closing credits: "This story is fictional. Any similarity to the names, characters or history of any person, living or dead, or any actual events is entirely coincidental and unintentional."

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Connections

Featured in Cinemadonna: W.E. (2016)

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Soundtracks

She Is a Diamond
(uncredited)
Written by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber
Performed by Jonathan Pryce and the Chorus
Produced by Nigel Wright, Alan Parker, Andrew Lloyd Webber, and David Caddick

User Reviews

The first great musical movie after nearly 20 years

Excellent Lloyd Webber-Rice musical is finally brought to the silver screen twenty years after the release of its concept album. Being used to watching flashy, colourful musicals, namely from MGM, full of catchy tunes and full of breathtaking dance routines, "Evita" left me quite shocked. It was the first (and last) "political" musical I saw. The music impressed me at once, however the story and the setting did not quite do so at first sight. It was only later, when I read something about the life story of Eva Peron did I really appreciate the excellent work Lloyd Webber and Rice did. Even though they were not 100% faithful to the real story, the bio-musical gave a somewhat clear picture of what type of woman Eva Peron was. The movie was great with its re-enactments of the 1940s-1950s Argentine elections, however, having personally performed in the stage version (playing a descamisado, a waiter, a policeman and one of Eva's lovers), I cannot but point out the several drawbacks it had. It is true that the funeral, the electoral campaign and the terrorism were by far better on screen than on stage, yet the stage musical had a certain charm which was lost in the film. It could be due to the fact that on stage there was some dancing involved while the movie had none; it could be because one was live and one was playback; it could be because some of the harmonies were lost in the movie; it could be simply due to the fact that in one I participated while in the other I was just a spectator. I don't know, still the stage version was more "alive". Nonetheless, in order to be fair, I have to admit that the movie version did have some improvements as regards to the play. The best one of them was the song "You Must Love Me". Apart from finally re-uniting composer and lyricist after more than 10 years of cold war, it presents the First Lady of Argentina as a woman who has some feelings, who is afraid in front of her approaching death, who is not only interested in becoming vice-president, as the stage production tends to hint. How much this is historically true is beyond me, yet it is good to give some human element to the heroine.

I was quite impressed by the actors' interpretations. Madonna has finally showed the world that she is able to look great without taking her clothes off, that she is more than just voice, boobs and scandal. Jonathan Pryce was excellent as the Argentine president - such a pity he had so little to sing, having such a great voice. Antonio Banderas impressed me - I did not know he was that good at singing. The role of the narrator was quite a breakthrough after his ‘tough-guy' parts, and he did it quite well. Some critics said that this movie would set the way for future film versions of musicals - I hope they were right!