Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #767 in DVD
• Released on: 1999-05-21
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 129 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
After more than a decade of false starts and several potential directors, the popular Andrew Lloyd Webber-Tim Rice musical finally made it to the big screen with Alan Parker (The Commitments) at the helm and Madonna in the coveted title role of Argentina's first lady, Eva Perón. A triumph of production design, costuming, cinematography, and epic-scale pageantry, the film follows the rise of Eva Perón to the level of supreme social and political celebrity in the 1940s. Like Madonna, Perón was a material girl (she was only 33 when she died); she was instrumental in the political success of her husband, Juan Perón (Jonathan Pryce). But Eva was also a supremely tragic figure whose life was essentially hollow at its core despite the lavish benefits of her nearly goddess-like status. The film Evita has a similar quality--it's visually astonishing but emotionally distant, and benefits greatly from the singing commentary of Ché (Antonia Banderas), who serves as a passionate chorus to guide the viewer through the elaborate parade of history. --Jeff Shannon

Video Description
DVD Special Features

Ratio: 2:35
Running Time: 129 mins approx

Synopsis
Madonna tackles the title role in Alan Parker's ambitious recounting of the brief, amazing life of former Argentine first lady Eva Peron. Presented almost entirely in song and narrated by Antonio Banderas as a fictional everyman, the film charts the alternately revered and reviled Evita's rise from poverty to become a film and radio actress; her relationship with President Juan Peron (Jonathan Pryce); and her tragic death from cancer at age 33.
Banderas, a surprisingly moving singer, and the inimitable Madonna, who took voice lessons before filming commenced to expand her vocal range, provide the emotional bedrock for the eminently enjoyable film with their charismatic screen presences. The music, including the Oscar-winning song "You Must Love Me," weaves an entrancing web, and the sets and costumes are awe inspiring. Parker does a fine job of adapting Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical for the big screen. The director's vision shines clearly here: Like PINK FLOYD: THE WALL, EVITA is an enchanting mixture of epic fairy tale and sociopolitical psychodrama.

Customer Reviews

Some Musicals Just Don't Translate Very Well Into Films
I've never seen Evita on stage, but from watching this film it becomes very obvious that that is where this story belongs, and although certain musicals have translated very well into films ('the Phantom of the Opera' and 'Hairspray' being two that spring immediatley to mind), this is one of those that I feel should have been left on stage. Saying that however, watching this film has made me very keen to see the musical in it's original format one day, and it is just a shame that it is no longer being shown in the West End.

Whenever Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice get togther for a musical, you know you're going to be in for a treat, and no matter what other reservations I have about this film, there is no doubting that musically, it is a masterpiece. There are many, very, very good songs, ('Oh, What a Circus' and 'I'd be Surprisingly Good for You', being two examples), which are only improved by casting Madonna as Eva (no matter what anyone may say about her acting, you cannot deny that her voice is sublime). On the topic of acting, although I feel that Madonna did look much too old for the role, her acting did vastly imprive as the film went on, and if it wasn't for her age I would have said she made the perfect Eva Peron for her acting near the end was very powerful and conveyed a lot of emotion. I also really loved Antonio Banderas' casting as Che, but I have never seen a single performance by Banderas which I have disaproved of.

I think the major issue with this film is that, being based off the musical, it's story is therefore somewhat limited (especially seeing as the musical was based off a real life event), and, rather than a climactic ending most movie-goers are used to seeing, the film never reaches a huge peak, but rather, fizzles out slowly. Although this is often acceptable whilst watching a musical in theatre, it doesn't translate very well on film.

I did like this film, and am glad I watched it purely because it has now convinced me that I have to go see the musical on theatre next time it is close to me, but it wasn't a piece of filming masterpiece, even if it was genious on stage. I enjoyed i t while watching, but it's not one that I will watch again in a hurry.

Brilliant!
I had never seen Evita before I watched this DVD - and what an introduction! The songs were sung brilliantly, although I was expecting them not to be, and the storyline made me laugh and cry at alternate intervals. Viva Evita!

Absolutely first class
I much enjoyed this excellent film when I first saw it in the cinema some years ago. Seeing it again on DVD brings all that enjoyment back. While I realise that many critics disagree, in my view the film is beautifully done, and the DVD does it full justice.

Madonna acts and sings the part of Evita perfectly, and the supporting cast and the direction are also very good. The film really scores in the atmosphere it subtly creates around Evita, showing her emotional appeal to the masses clearly. The large-scale scenes of the marches in her support, the sporadic violence in the streets, and her funeral procession, are very powerful. Above all she comes over as a real person, faults and all, in the more intimate scenes. Her husband is sensitively played by Jonathan Pryce, while Antonio Banderas is great in his changing moods as the narrator. Andrew Lloyd Webber's fine music is enduringly evocative (and not overdone in the film, as some reviewers felt).

This is one of the very best films of recent years, and I am pleased to have the DVD, which I shall undoubtedly watch again in future.