Madonna's voice in "Evita"? — Page 2

drewmangroup, you have no idea what you are talking about. The woman has monuments and statues constructed in her honor as well as a huge government funded sculpture that spans the entire width and length of a building in Buenos Aires.




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Updated On: 11/29/12 at 10:29 PM

Here's the other side..

Thanks, Carlos. All those static, inanimate, voiceless monuments are the perfect tribute to Madonna's performance.

"drewmangroup, you have no idea what you are talking about. The woman has monuments and statues constructed in her honor as well as a huge government funded sculpture that spans the entire width and length of a building in Buenos Aires."

Yep. There is a reason why Argentina is one of the only countries left that has never presented the ALW stage version. In fact, they've taken it upon themselves to write their own musical about Eva, as well as film their own movie version. It was non-musical, but it is well known that it was done as an answer to the Madonna film.

What's interesting to me is that most everything Argentina produces as "an answer" to the supposed lies and myths about Eva Peron, only help confirm the bulk of those things they claim are untrue. It's strange. For example, many people--in and out of Argentina--like to categorize Patti Lupone's performance as "bitchy" and "over-the-top." Yet, their "answer" to the film version starring Madonna, entitled, "Eva Peron: The True Story," only helps elevate Lupones Tony Award-winning performance.

The film was meant to debunk myths and assumptions about Eva mostly popularized by Lupone's turn as Evita, but the actress playing the role in the Argentine version might as well have done the role as a tribute to Lupone, because it's nearly identical, except she doesn't sing. Case in point:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wPpNXANKxY

That's captivating actress Esther Goris and her take on Eva is flawless. So much so, it's eerie--the inflection, even the slightly weathered, smoker's voice, and that passion. So Ms. Goris confirms Eva WAS a VERY strong, feisty, harsh, even abrasive woman. The filmmakers--who set out to tell the absolute truth--also confirm this by way of not objecting to the portrayal. Look at those mannerisms, they are exactly like Lupone's, but Lupone is often said to have been over-the-top...and evil.

I've seen most of that film and it left me scratching my head because there was nothing so incredibly revealing that would change anyone's perception of Eva that they might've gathered from the ALW musical. Goris portrays her as incredibly foul-mouthed and it's obvious she came from "the sticks." It's almost as if people just like to complain and have this odd persecution complex when it comes to Eva Peron, so they ignore the intended purpose of a piece, like the musical, and extract the more juicy aspects of the real Eva Peron.

Without doubt, that chick IS NOW a myth.

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Updated On: 11/30/12 at 05:19 AM

Stand back, Buenos Aires!...indeed!!

So Ms. Goris confirms Eva WAS a VERY strong, feisty, harsh, even abrasive woman.

Here's a scene from the movie that best illustrates that. Eva confronts the railway workers after they threaten a nationwide strike. At this point (1950), after Eva and Perón's excessive spending and mismanagement, the Argentine economy was tanking and inflation had wiped out all the gains the workers had made. Eva met with the railway workers and warned them not to strike or there would be dire consequences. They ended up striking anyway and many were imprisoned and tortured. Some didn't get released until after Perón was deposed in 1955.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZRK0f5GJRc

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Updated On: 12/26/12 at 09:59 PM

And here she tells the president of The Ladies of Beneficence to basically f*ck off and then cuts off their government funding because they snubbed her.

http://youtu.be/iM8ZxnwD1fc?t=5m

I don't know what they were on about with their beef with the Madonna film. Madonna sanitized her terribly. That's why I can't believe people think she was GREAT in the role. Goris should have won an Oscar for her accurate, Lupone-like performance. Look at that walk after she tells off the old lady, it's eerily similar to Lupone's Eva Bitch Walk! XD

http://youtu.be/iM8ZxnwD1fc?t=8m7s

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Updated On: 12/26/12 at 10:24 PM

Then there was faye...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyDCWNgi6E0

The real problem with much of it was Parker's decision to accentuate the "reality," to pretend it's not really a musical. Early on I was seriously let down by this documentary-like approach. The editing and staging turn "Buenos Aires" into one of the dullest musical sequences ever put on film, and it's a number we expected Madonna to deliver with smokin' heat. (And think of how often we might see the song excerpted, had it been any good; it's never seen out of context, because it's dark, tedious, and makes the leading lady look like a frump taking tango lessons.) The number is built around the damned train, not this woman igniting when she arrives in the city. A key moment in the music is illustrated by -- a train pulling into a station. Ooooh, how counter-intuitive for a musical! Daring! Not really. And then it peters out as she dances, dully, in a club. No sexuality, no choreography worth noting, but plenty of (yawn) period detail. It ends with her boogieing out into the street, without a scintilla of Madonna's natural dancing skill spotlighted. Were they so afraid to exploit what she does well? Instead we get Madonna not allowed to be ... Madonna.

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Updated On: 12/27/12 at 09:21 AM

It has nothing to do with the complexity of the steps. Madonna herself spoke about the intricacy of the tango she had to learn in her Vanity Fair diaries. In a way, what's seen is actually trickier. I'm speaking of the style, that the numbers were staged as "reality," only performed as if Eva Peron might've danced, not in any way stylized. This may have served the documentary tone, but it emptied "Buenos Aires" of its theatricality. Sexuality. Excitement. If anyone who posts here wants to make a persuasive case for "Buenos Aires" in the film, I'm all ears. I watched it again this past fall and couldn't believe how pale the number is compared to either of the Broadway productions.

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I think the whole movie was a let down. I think I counted three times when they use the same footage of Madonna on the train waving goodbye and heading to Buenos Aires. That tells me they ran out of ideas/images. I can understand using it in the original sequence, and then maybe in the funeral flashback. But the third time was really too much.

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Thought the YouTube comments below the last part of the Argentine film were interesting. I've translated them below.

The original Spanish quotes can be accessed here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQwROi_p1uE

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"Very good movie. Portrays Eva Peron like the leader of a country who gave much support to its workers. The Madonna film covered mostly the frivolous aspects of Eva."

"The Madonna film was nothing more than an excuse to film the opera's script as a musical, without any historical accuracy. Like, for example, the supposed link between Eva and Che (Che was barely a teenager when Eva died, and they never met).

This Argentine film is historically accurate and even adds an excellent script and great performances, most notably, the phenomenal work of Ester Goris in the leading role."

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Oh dear.

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Updated On: 12/28/12 at 02:45 AM

I think those pictures of Eva on buildings were a temporary tribute, since I was born and raised in Buenos Aires and I've never seen them, yet, I might not be aware of them existing despite living there for decades since it's a huge city.

The monuments are located in a small suburb outside of Buenos Aires called "Ciudad Evita", which was founded in her honor. In the actual city of Buenos Aires, I don't recall seeing any monuments or statues of hers. I barely heard about her in my entire childhood.

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