Evita

"3 stars out of 4"

Eviiitaaaa...Eviiitaaa...Eviiitaaa!

These are the sounds of people of Argentina, chanting their first lady's name...and if you only had heard the music of this movie before seeing the movie itself as me, it is the reminder of "Don't cry for me Argentina" from the composer Andrew Lloyd Webber whose "The Phantom of the Opera" was also turned into movie later on, starring (or actually kinda introducing!) Emmy Rossum (you might know her from Shameless).

The music of this movie is mesmerizing and beautiful, as it had drawn a 11-12 year-old kid like me back then. Maybe I'm a little biased for having heard these songs from childhood but now that I think about it, only a brilliant music can attract a child of that age (or maybe I'm just that awesome! :D who knows?!).

I had heard from a relative who had seen this movie back when it was released that they had left the theater in the middle of the movie because it was "boring". I understand and respect that point of view. Musicals are not for everyone especially nowadays. There must have been a reason why the industry turned from musicals back in late 70's. The people demanded something else. Although we owe a lot to that era that gave us classics like West Side Story, Singin' in the Rain, the Sound of Music, and Grease (later down the line) to name a few. I would never understand what happened! Maybe the visionary directors who had made such movies were not around anymore...maybe it was the people...maybe both! But what a shame!

When the musicals had a come back in the early 2000's with Moulin Rouge and Chicago, I was ecstatic! Evita is more like Les Miz, though I prefer Moulin Rouge to all of these recent ones, but still...Evita is a memorable one, at least music-wise, among these and I definitely preferred it to Les Miz that I have recently seen as well...probably because of its music because considering production design and acting, Les Miz was definitely way ahead of its counterpart.

I had heard that people of Argentina were against the choice Hollywood had made in casting Madonna as their beloved first lady and always asked myself why such a respected woman was played by someone like Madonna! :D No disrespect! :p But my question was answered when the movie began! Eva had not always been respectable...but as I always say there is no such thing as a"bad person" and whatever that Eva did was circumstantial...I might have fallen in the same path as she had if my life was like hers.

The movie starts with showing Eva as a child and her mother and sisters being denied to her father's funeral, apparently because they were his illegitimate children. She had then  become a waitress and in hopes of becoming famous one day had become the lover of a famous singer who had come to their village for a performance at the place where she worked. But little did she know that she was being used by a married man. She then left for Buenos Aires and became an actress, who was soon to be discovered talentless in the profession! But with her charm she continued to be in the spotlight.

When Juan Peron, a military officer running for president (apparently after a Coup D'etat), met Eva,  he fell for her instantly, who supported him until the end of the way and helped him be released from prison and come to power and be popular by Argentine people.

They soon became very popular among the nation, though being under pressure from the opposition party, by providing the nation with services like tap water (I wonder if it would have done by anyone else at some point back then when nations were developing and they were getting access to such technology!).

Music is much more than that of Les Miz (in my humble opinion at least!) and the movie is definitely worth watching once. After that, you can only remain addicted to the awesome music! Eva's role was not a challenging one but Madonna was surprisingly good at it.

The story is not an extraordinary one...almost the same as the next princess/first lady story! It is built in a way to only tell the overall story of her life without getting into any agenda or anything, with no special event that would make it memorable...but still...pas mal!