Madonna did not like Evita

[A. A. Aardvark 5,090]

3 hours ago, Andreo said:

If the Miami Remix was the one being played for the whole movie she would have loved it 

you can take the girl out of the disco but......

[MDNA22 1,273]

She liked it enough to accept a Golden Globe award for it lol 

[MDNA22 1,273]

2 hours ago, wtg1987 said:

I’m probably in minority here but this is low on my list of good Madonna movies - yeah she is good in it but the music in it is very dated and Antonia Banderas singing voice was awful as was Jonathan Pryce - to me it’s just a long ( over long ) music video - and the title of this thread is clearly click bait as she was referring to the musical - she was very proud of the film and always spoke highly of it - the cinematography is also gorgeous - the guy who did it worked with fincher a lot so that doesn’t surprise me 

Yes it;s an amazing epic music video more than a film and looks stunning

[LongIslandTea 1,880]

She doesn't have any control over ANYTHING in the movie, not even the music. 

Of course she's mad.

[Piksel8 724]

7 hours ago, Blue Jean said:

That last part was specifically in relation to YMLM I think, they thought she was trying to get a writing credit 

However, I believe a lot of her desired changes were honoured. Overall, there was a deliberate attempt to make Eva seem less of a manipulative tyrant.

LOL her trying to get writing credits is totally her!! She knew YMLM was potentially going to win an Oscar and it would've been her first.

In a way, i think the softer Eva image suited Madonna better especially when she rebranded herself 360 after Erotica and Bedtime stories.

Regardless if they did follow the original musical direction of Lupone's tyrant version, I think the criticism was inevitably going to be there. Broadway critics have always been ruthless and she knew she wasn't going to please them. ALW musicals has always been a subject of controversy and historically the movie versions of his musical have always been failure in the box office on top of the drama he has from his previous productions and casting selections. Evita (from what I remember) is still the most successful ALW Musical Movie by gross with $140Mill on a $50M budget. Phantom was around $154m but with a higher production of  $70+mil.

[FrozenRain 364]

You Must Love Me was definitely added to show human side of Eva. The musical's Ice Queen version would have not worked for the film. YML is absolutely lovely but very different from the rest of the soundtrack.

[MikeyK 971]

8 hours ago, Enrico said:

Well, for instance, in the theatrical version Buenos Aires is followed by Goonight and thank you Magaldi. It's Eva who dismisses Magaldi. In the movie she sings Another suitcase, which shows her as fragile and lonely.

Don’t forget that tiny but notable lyric change in Rainbow Tour lol.

Original: “she’s a new world Madonna with a golden touch.”

Movie: “she’s a lady of the new world with a golden touch.”

The way the guy interjected that line felt very much to me like a wink wink to fans of the stage version.

Re: YMLM I remember reading a quote from her at one point about how they recorded a few different vocal interpretations of it, including a fuller-voiced take, but they went w/one that made her sound more vulnerable bc it humanized her. I’ve always wished we could hear the other version(s).

[Ayham 6,176]

Well, I don’t have time to go through everything on this thread but if she really hates the movie then she’s stupid… Evita probably the best thing she did throughout her entire career. Literally there’s Madonna before Evita and Madonna after.

[Blue Jean 17,076]

21 hours ago, Roland Barthes said:

She did not trash Alan Parker though, here's the link to the whole interview

I believe she signed on to make a musical and not a biopic but when she researched the character she discovered how badly she was presented in it.Truth is, it is a weird musical, Don't cry for me Argentina's lyrics make no sense within the movie. It's one of my least favourite era in her career, i still don't understand why they mae a musical about a dictatorship and if it was to denounce it why targeting the wife and not Juan Peron. The musical, wether it's on stage or movie is indeed misogynistic about a girl coming from a very poor background making her way in the world by sleeping with influent men. Not once they question that if you were born poor then it was the only way to go high up on the social ladder whe you were a woman. And we blam omen whom accepted to do it instead of the men using their social position and power to have sex with women who wanted to escape their condition, they are the bad guys and it is still something that our culture celebrates instead of questionning : abuse of power to enslave people. It's funny she says Snake Eyes / Dangerous Game was a life altering experience because what Nancy Ferrara (Abel's ex wife, producer and actress in the movie playing her own role) said about it in a Madonna biography is a real Metoo moment.

They wrote the musical about her rather than Juan because her story was interesting and there was always a lot of public interest in it. She was an actress turned politician which was controversial at the time mixing show business with politics. She also died young and they held a state funeral for her which gives us non Argentinians an idea of how influential she was. The people loved her, kind of like Princess Diana.

I agree the original musical hasn't aged well in terms of how it portrays women but neither has Phantom of the Opera.

[Pootz333 2,910]

You Must Love Me, DCFMA, Eva's Final Broadcast, and Lament.The remixes. The costumes. All great.

Everything else about that movie is a chore.

I would love to live the alternate timeline where she did this movie when it was first rumoured to be greenlit in the early 90's, and then followed it up with Erotica. Imagine.

Also, what's with people saying she didn't soften her image before Evita? It was crystal clear. Even in her interview style. I think she did a better job acting as "Softdonna" than Eva tbh. Madonna's best role has always been MADONNA. But I'm not trying to argue with you all today.

[Anapausis 6,631]

33 minutes ago, Pootz333 said:

You Must Love Me, DCFMA, Eva's Final Broadcast, and Lament.The remixes. The costumes. All great.

Everything else about that movie is a chore.

I would love to live the alternate timeline where she did this movie when it was first rumoured to be greenlit in the early 90's, and then followed it up with Erotica. Imagine.

Also, what's with people saying she didn't soften her image before Evita? It was crystal clear. Even in her interview style. I think she did a better job acting as "Softdonna" than Eva tbh. Madonna's best role has always been MADONNA. But I'm not trying to argue with you all today.

Best post ever on this thread (OP included).

/endthread

[LongIslandTea 1,880]

Personally I felt Evita is more like a Madonna long form music video that requires very minimum acting and lots of posing which is her forte.

[thegoldencalf 12,956]

On 6/20/2024 at 7:34 AM, Roland Barthes said:

She did not trash Alan Parker though, here's the link to the whole interview

I believe she signed on to make a musical and not a biopic but when she researched the character she discovered how badly she was presented in it.Truth is, it is a weird musical, Don't cry for me Argentina's lyrics make no sense within the movie. It's one of my least favourite era in her career, i still don't understand why they mae a musical about a dictatorship and if it was to denounce it why targeting the wife and not Juan Peron. The musical, wether it's on stage or movie is indeed misogynistic about a girl coming from a very poor background making her way in the world by sleeping with influent men. Not once they question that if you were born poor then it was the only way to go high up on the social ladder whe you were a woman. And we blam omen whom accepted to do it instead of the men using their social position and power to have sex with women who wanted to escape their condition, they are the bad guys and it is still something that our culture celebrates instead of questionning : abuse of power to enslave people. It's funny she says Snake Eyes / Dangerous Game was a life altering experience because what Nancy Ferrara (Abel's ex wife, producer and actress in the movie playing her own role) said about it in a Madonna biography is a real Metoo moment.

Though I do agree with most of this, we shouldn’t turn Evita into a saint and ignore the fact that she was cheering on the human rights abuses committed by the Peronist regime. 
I know very little about the stage version, but I think the movie version did a good job portraying the duality of the character. 

[Gonzus 2,846]

Evita was a bore, but she was good in it. But I think Dangerous Game was her best performance ever, followed by the character she portrays in the Bad Girl video. Evita comes next, then Susan. 

[Alpha 1,928]

5 hours ago, LongIslandTea said:

Personally I felt Evita is more like a Madonna long form music video that requires very minimum acting and lots of posing which is her forte.

If it took very minimum acting any actress could've done it but we know that not just anyone could do what Madonna did in that role. People wanna diminish her talent still and say OH ITS JUST A MUSIC VIDEO as if that isnt acting lol Madonna's acting is impeccable in her videos. Look at her eyes in Bad Girl or even in Ghosttown. That's a skill and a talent. So many "talented" actresses have tried doing musicals but fall flat despite them being seen as talented. Not just anyone can do it. Madonna might have trouble feeling stiff in talking roles but she literally shone in Evita. 

[Gonzus 2,846]

On 6/20/2024 at 8:34 AM, Roland Barthes said:

about a dictatorship

It was a democratic government. Peron was elected, but he became totalitarian, as much as Mussolini, Franco, Hitler and Stalin. All the same pieces of shit. 

[Adonna 20,889]

4 minutes ago, Alpha said:

If it took very minimum acting any actress could've done it but we know that not just anyone could do what Madonna did in that role. People wanna diminish her talent still and say OH ITS JUST A MUSIC VIDEO as if that isnt acting lol Madonna's acting is impeccable in her videos. Look at her eyes in Bad Girl or even in Ghosttown. That's a skill and a talent. So many "talented" actresses have tried doing musicals but fall flat despite them being seen as talented. Not just anyone can do it. Madonna might have trouble feeling stiff in talking roles but she literally shone in Evita. 

Exactly. For me regarding Madonna's talent as an actress is how she speaks in a lot of her roles. There tends to be a disconnect and uncertainty there.  However, Madonna has always been able to emote emotion very well.  That is another important factor for those who act.  To say that "anyone" could have did what Madonna did is completely false.  Madonna is still acting in her music videos too.  She's usually if not always playing a character even if it's somewhat who she is.  When you see her videos, you believe in what she's conveying if it's her singing and pouring her emotion and self into the role visually. I've seen plenty of music videos where many musicians who struggle to emote such as Madonna does. Heck, some can't even convincingly mime their own words for a music video.  Madonna seems to always do so.  So yeah, I agree with you, not anyone could have done what Madonna did in Evita.  She was very convincing in her rol as Evita.  That death scene was not mimed either.  It was so emotional for both actors, that both of them had to vocally perform those lines live on camera.

[Roland Barthes 6,146]

5 hours ago, thegoldencalf said:

Though I do agree with most of this, we shouldn’t turn Evita into a saint and ignore the fact that she was cheering on the human rights abuses committed by the Peronist regime. 
I know very little about the stage version, but I think the movie version did a good job portraying the duality of the character. 

That's why i don't understand her life was turned into a musical, it's such an odd choice because like you say there's a duality in the treatment of peronism when it was a harsh regime and a lot of people have disappeared after protesting against it. It was much like Trump. It's neither pro Evita not against her, you feel sorry for her because she dies young but the horror of peronism is very lightly treated. 

[LongIslandTea 1,880]

1 minute ago, Alpha said:

If it took very minimum acting any actress could've done it but we know that not just anyone could do what Madonna did in that role. People wanna diminish her talent still and say OH ITS JUST A MUSIC VIDEO as if that isnt acting lol Madonna's acting is impeccable in her videos. Look at her eyes in Bad Girl or even in Ghosttown. That's a skill and a talent. So many "talented" actresses have tried doing musicals but fall flat despite them being seen as talented. Not just anyone can do it. Madonna might have trouble feeling stiff in talking roles but she literally shone in Evita. 

She doesn't need to talk in music videos, just posing + very minimum acting for a few seconds.

Whereas movie requires actor to act/speak along with emotion in order to portray characters in stories i.e. acting someone else.

When Meryl Streep acts, I see Madeline Ashton / Miranda Priestly / Julia Child and not Meryl Streep herself. There is a reason she received countless acting awards / nomination.

Sadly M couldn't master the art of playing someone else.

Every character that she had played in the movie is just another Madonna.

Since Evita doesn't need to talk much and it's all about singing/dancing/posing + minimum acting, hence M was able to excel it well. If it wasn't a musical, Evita would be in serious trouble.

[Roland Barthes 6,146]

32 minutes ago, Gonzus said:

Evita was a bore, but she was good in it. But I think Dangerous Game was her best performance ever, followed by the character she portrays in the Bad Girl video. Evita comes next, then Susan. 

One of the biggest mistake was to lipsynch the songs, when she does the dying scene singing live it is so much better and those contacts are terrible.

[Gonzus 2,846]

6 minutes ago, Roland Barthes said:

One of the biggest mistake was to lipsynch the songs, when she does the dying scene singing live it is so much better and those contacts are terrible.

LOL, the lenses, the rabbit teeth, the orange hair and the pregnancy-fat face. Her face was plump when it should have been gaunt

[Alpha 1,928]

11 minutes ago, LongIslandTea said:

She doesn't need to talk in music videos, just posing + very minimum acting for a few seconds.

Whereas movie requires actor to act/speak along with emotion in order to portray characters in stories i.e. acting someone else.

When Meryl Streep acts, I see Madeline Ashton / Miranda Priestly / Julia Child and not Meryl Streep herself. There is a reason she received countless acting awards / nomination.

Sadly M couldn't master the art of playing someone else.

Every character that she had played in the movie is just another Madonna.

Since Evita doesn't need to talk much and it's all about singing/dancing/posing + minimum acting, hence M was able to excel it well. If it wasn't a musical, Evita would be in serious trouble.

That's just shows what a limited view of acting that you have. Could YOU play evita since like u said all u need to do is pose? Lol 

[Gonzus 2,846]

12 minutes ago, LongIslandTea said:

Every character that she had played in the movie is just another Madonna.

That's wahy Truth or dare is her best movie, because she plays herself to the hilt. But I think she becomes someone else in Dangerous Game.

[Alpha 1,928]

16 minutes ago, Donna said:

Exactly. For me regarding Madonna's talent as an actress is how she speaks in a lot of her roles. There tends to be a disconnect and uncertainty there.  However, Madonna has always been able to emote emotion very well.  That is another important factor for those who act.  To say that "anyone" could have did what Madonna did is completely false.  Madonna is still acting in her music videos too.  She's usually if not always playing a character even if it's somewhat who she is.  When you see her videos, you believe in what she's conveying if it's her singing and pouring her emotion and self into the role visually. I've seen plenty of music videos where many musicians who struggle to emote such as Madonna does. Heck, some can't even convincingly mime their own words for a music video.  Madonna seems to always do so.  So yeah, I agree with you, not anyone could have done what Madonna did in Evita.  She was very convincing in her rol as Evita.  That death scene was not mimed either.  It was so emotional for both actors, that both of them had to vocally perform those lines live on camera.

Not to mention...what about Silent Films? Haha but i guess that wasnt acting either!

[Adonna 20,889]

16 minutes ago, Alpha said:

Not to mention...what about Silent Films? Haha but i guess that wasnt acting either!

Yeah, Madonna didn't just "pose" in Evita.  That's just a ridiculous thing to say and I can't fathom how a fan really can make such a claim? I mean; I will be the first to admit Madonna isn't a great actress, but there are certain elements to her being an actress just doesn't work, while there are other things as an actress she soes well.  For instance, she is able to visually be convincing. That isn't anything ANYONE can do.  Like mentioned, there is something about her speaking that doesn't connect with me when she's acting.  Certainly, it's more convincing if it's more to whom she is. For instance, Truth or Dare or in DSS.  Both those films, required her to play up to whom she was at the time. Was there acting involved?  Yes! In both films. Even Alek will say Madonna was hamming it up on film to produce more juice.  But that's because she's better at usually improvising.  Once you give her a specific line, in a lot of cases, she comes off more stiff and wooden.  We saw a lot of that in her film Body Of Evidence. You can tell she was trying very hard in being a character that you'd think would be easy for her to play, but she was trying too hard at it.

With Evita, she seemed more at ease and yes, a lot of it is because the acting she had to do was more visual while miming the words she already recorded, but to me that is far more harder to do than just delivery lines while filming.  Why?  Because you have to capture an emotion that you already recorded vocally possibly weeks if not months ago.  That isn't easy to do. She had to make sure that what she was visually portraying, the same emotions visually would fit the emotions of the vocals she had already recorded.