The motion picture Evita, released in 1996, had been down a harrowing path of evolution. Based on the musical of the same name, written sixteen years prior by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, it is the glamorized story of Eva Peron, wife of President Juan Peron of Argentina, in office from 1946-55. The project's journey began in 1979, when producer Robert Stigwood suggested the idea to director Alan Parker during a tennis match. When Parker declined, an upset Stigwood smashed him over the head with a racket-not off to a good start. A slew of potential directors blew through, including Francis Ford Coppola and Richard Attenborough, but none stuck. In 1987 Oliver Stone signed on, and Madonna began courting for the role she claimed she was destined to play. After talks fell through with Ms. Ciccone, Stone almost clinched Meryl Streep for the part, then Michelle Pfeiffer, but eventually dropped the project altogether when then-Argentinean president Carlos Menem denied him permission to film there. Which is when Alan Parker reenters the picture, takes control of the project, casts Madonna, and starts production in 1995.
Madonna's fever pitch obsession with Eva Peron (Evita as she preferred to be called) is easy to understand; the striking parallels between their lives almost suggest a reincarnation of some kind. Both coming from humble backgrounds, both women were models, singers, actresses, pioneers, and outcasts-the driving force seeming to be a manic quest for upward reinvention. They have been revered and reviled; when a film critic writes of "the bitch goddess of criminal celebrity," you're not sure whom he means. Maybe because he is referring to them both. Thus Madonna's kindred connection with Evita is almost innate; Peron inspired a kind of rock star legend with her meteoric rise to fame and fabulous blowout with her early death. And always in style; this is a woman who arranged for a manicure after death in order to make her corpse more presentable.
The production of Evita was as extravagant as the subject matter; the 84-day shoot involved 93 full cast members, over 40,000 extras, and totaled out at over 60 million dollars. A replica of the Peron palace was under construction in London, since shooting had been forbidden at the original location. This is when it pays to have Madonna in your cast: she persuaded President Menem to grant access to Casa Rosada for the famous balcony scene. Her ecstatic response says it all: "I didn't come all the way to Buenos Aires to sing 'Don't Cry for Me Argentina' on a sound stage."
The investment paid off handsomely; Evita was nominated for six Oscar®s, including nominations for Cinematography, Art Direction, and Editing. Lloyd Webber and Rice took home the Academy Award for Music (Original Song), for "You Must Love Me." The worldwide gross for the film totaled over 140 million.
Parker cast Jonathan Pryce, best remembered for Brazil (1985), as Eva's overshadowed husband Juan Peron. Antonio Banderas, a Spanish actor with his breakthrough roles attributed to director Pedro Almodovar, played Che, an Everyman narrator figure. Neither actor could hold a matchstick to the drama of Madonna, however, who faced death threats, crazed mobs and vicious paparazzi, and, towards the end of shooting, a pregnancy - all an appropriate measure of drama to suit the original Material Girl.
Director: Alan Parker
Producers: Alan Parker, Robert Stigwood, Andrew G. Vajna
Screenplay: Andrew Lloyd Webber, Tim Rice, Alan Parker, Oliver Stone
Cinematography: Darius Khondji
Art Direction: Richard Earl, Jean-Michel Hugon
Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber, Tim Rice
Cast: Madonna (Eva Peron), Antonio Banderas (Che), Jonathan Pryce (Juan Peron), Jimmy Nail (Agustin Magaldi), Victoria Sus (Dona Juana), Julian Littman (Brother Juan).
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