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Dom Robinson reviews
Entertainment In Video
- Cat.no: EDV 9017
- Cert: PG
- Running time: 129 minutes
- Year: 1996
- Pressing: 1999
- Region(s): 2 (UK PAL)
- Chapters: 30
- Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 (Dolby Surround)
- Languages: English
- Subtitles: None
- Widescreen: 2.35:1 (J-D-C Scope)
- 16:9-enhanced: No
- Macrovision: No
- Disc Format: DVD 9
- Price: £15.99
- Extras : Scene index
Director:
- Alan Parker
(Angel Heart, Birdy, Bugsy Malone, Come See The Paradise, The Commitments, Fame, Midnight Express, Mississippi Burning, Pink Floyd: The Wall, The Road To Wellville)
Producers:
- Robert Stigwood, Alan Parker and Andrew G. Vajna
Screenplay:
- Alan Parker and Oliver Stone
Music:
- Andrew Lloyd Webber
Lyrics:
- Tim Rice
Cast:
- Eva Peron: Madonna (Body of Evidence, Dangerous Game, Desperately Seeking Susan, Dick Tracy, Four Rooms, Girl 6, Shanghai Surprise, Visionquest, Who’s That Girl ?)
Che: Antonia Banderas (Assassins, Desperado, Four Rooms, House of the Spirits, Interview With The Vampire, Labyrinth of Passion, The Mask Of Zorro, Matador, Philadelphia, Two Much, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown)
Juan Peron: Jonathan Pryce (Brazil, A Business Affair, Deadly Advice, Jumpin Jack Flash, The Ploughman’s Lunch, The Rachel Papers, Regeneration, Ronin, Shopping, Tomorrow Never Dies)
Agustin Magaldi: Jimmy Nail (Morons From Outer Space, Still Crazy, TV: Auf Wiedersehen Pet, Spender)
Peron’s Mistress: Andrea Corr (The Commitments)
Evitais the big-screen adaptation of the popular musical by Andrew LloydWebber and Tim Rice. Born the illegitimate daughter of a pennilessfarmer, Eva (Madonna) hopes to make it big in Buenos Aires, becoming aradio and TV actress and hitching up with rising politician Juan Peron(Jonathan Pryce) after which he is arrested when those high up take adistinct disapproval. After campaigning for his freedom, Peron is released,they marry and he is elected President. Antonio Banderas plays Che,from whose eyes the story of Eva Peron is told, literally from start to finish.This isn’t the first film our two leads made together as they both appeared inthe quartet of stories, Four Rooms.
For a musical, the film needed a good singer and Madonna needed a good film,so the two make a good pairing. She released three singles from the soundtrack,You Must Love Me which made No.10 in early November 1996, followed byDon’t Cry For Me Argentina making No.3 in the Christmas chart of thatyear, coming just a week before the film’s theatrical release in the UK onFriday, January 3rd 1997. Finally Another Suitcase In Another Hallreached No.7 that March and all the promo videos featured scenes from the filmin the original widescreen ratio of 2.35:1. The soundtrack album recorded bythe cast reached the top slot in February.
This title is one of the first batch of DVD releases from Entertainment in Video, butit suffers the same fate that two other titles do, namely First Strikeand I Know What You Did Last Summer,in that while bring presented in their original widescreen ratio of 2.35:1,none of them are anamorphically-enhanced, so even though the encoding isartifact-free, the final image doesn’t look any better than a good VHS tapewhen it could have been so much more. This time round the DVD has been masteredin dual-layer format – something the Americans don’t get with this title -usually done so to give a good picture while still packing in plenty of extras.Erm…
The average bitrate is 7.51Mb/s, occasionally peaking over 9Mb/s.
The sound also shares a problem with the other titles in that while being filmedwith a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, it’s merely represented in DD2.0 whichtranslates to Dolby Surround or ProLogic given the particular amplifier in use.However, I have to ask why, since Surround/Prologic-only is nothing but a backwardstep.
Extras : Chapters :There are 30 chapters during the 129-minute film, which covers most of themain scenes, but there’s no trailer, unlike the Region 1 release. Languages & Lyrics :
Just one language: English – in Dolby Surround, not Dolby Digital. Also, thedisc has potential to allow you to follow the songs with lyrics…but thereare none.
Menu :
An animated, colourful menu highlights with excerpts from each song… iswhat would be most welcomed. What we actually get is static and silentmenu with a picture of Maddie ghost-like in the sky.
On inserting the disc, you see the copyright info and the Entertainment In Videologo and then the film begins without accessing the main menu first. UnlikeBoogie Nights and Wag the Dog, you can’t fast-forward past them.If you go to the menu, clicking on “Play Movie” brings up the EiV logo and thenthe film starts. For some reason, whenever I see the EiV logo on this particularDVD or I Know What You Did Last Summer,it shimmers like crazy and gives you a headache if you look at it for its full duration.
While there’s no doubting the talent when Webber and Rice get together, whichis there to see for everyone when each of Madonna’s singles get an airing, plusAntonio Banderas’ rendition of “Oh What A Circus”, the film doesn’t makefor easy viewing in one sitting as only a small amount of spoken dialogue makesthe barrage of songs rather overpowering. Fans of Webber and Rice should alsonote that a stage production ofCatsis available on DVD too.
It’s just a shame that this DVD release has wasted what could have been agolden opportunity in telling us the story behind Evita, how it went fromstage to screen, perhaps in a separate commentary track from Webber, Rice andParker. But no, not even a trailer and in similar fashion toI Know What You Did Last Summer,I could build a better menu selection screen out of building blocks than thatpresented here, so this disc cannot be recommended as it is such a missedopportunity and why on earth is it £19.99 when the content is on apar with the aforementioned slasher-flick?
Trivia fans: Not only does the then-up-and-coming Corrs lead singer, AndreaCorr appear as Peron’s mistress in this film, but she also features inParker’s 1991 music-comedy The Commitments, where she had a cameo asJimmy’s little sister at the tender age of 15.FILM : **½PICTURE QUALITY : ***½SOUND QUALITY: ***EXTRAS: 0——————————-OVERALL: **
Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 1999.
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.