Information
- BFI identifier474658
- Date1996 (Copyright)
1996-12-20 (Release) - Production countryUSA, United Kingdom
- Production company
- SynopsisPeriod musical set in Argentina. The story of the life of Eva Perón née Duarte, or 'Evita', from her humble beginnings in the provincial town of Chivilcoy in the 1920s to her life as wife of the Argentine president Colonel Juan Perón. After a brief affair with married singer Agustín Magaldi from Buenos Aires when he visits her small town, young, ambitious Eva travels with him to the city, where she becomes a model and a glamorous actress, and becomes intimate with a number of men, each more important than the last. At a fund-raising gala to help earthquake victims, she meets Perón, who is besotted with her and sticks by her despite the disapproval of the upper classes, who disparage her lowly origins. Meanwhile, this very background is what makes the people of Argentina trust her and thus see in Perón a champion who loves them, and support for him grows very strong because of his love for Evita. She decides to take on a very galmorous look and she sets up a lottery (though some of the funds from it fail to go to charitable causes) and she undertakes a 'Rainbow Tour' of Europe, though this does not go entirely to plan and she faces some opposition from protestors. Even in Argentina, not everyone is happy about the adulation Perón and Evita receive. Soon Eva falls dangerously ill. The film is told in flashback, starting on the night Evita's untimely death is announced, with a narrator character (named Ché in the credits but not named in the film) trying to make sense of Evita's life. He appears throughout the film in various guises (waiter, worker, reporter, film projectionist, etc). (Synopsis)
- Work historyOriginally announced as a 1994 project originally involving Oliver Stone as director and starring Michelle Pfeiffer (who pulled out in February 1995). Production actually started in 1995.
- Genre
- Subject
- CreditsDirector: Alan Parker
©/Production Company: Cinergi Pictures Entertainment
©/Production Company: Cinergi Productions N.V. Inc.
view all - Cast
Title
Evita (Original)
EIDR identifier
10.5240/8D1D-E58A-505D-6861-E9D3-ACategory
FictionThis work is included in the BFI Filmography.
- Collections
- Film / Video
35mm Colour Positive - CTA - Combined - Master
view all - Scripts / DocumentsScript: draft - 'Evita' Draft script by Ken Russell - 2nd Draft - SCR-949
Script: draft - 'Evita' Script by Oliver Stone. - SCR-957
Ephemera: publicity - PBU-474658
Evita (1996) - Documentation - Material relating to the film 'Evita', a musical biopic of Eva Peron, directed by Alan Parker and starring Madonna, Jonathan Pryce and Antonio Banderas. ‘Evita’ was written by Andrew Lloyd Weber and Tim Rice originally as a concept album in 1976 and then as a stage production in 1978. Various directors and actors were attached to a possible film treatment until in 1994 Alan Parker was asked to be involved (having turned down an original request in 1978) by the producer Robert Stigwood. The shoot was in England, Argentina and Hungary and took place between 2nd October 1995 and 30th May 1996. The film premiered in Los Angeles on 14th December 1996. Includes scripts, art work, call sheets, costumes continuity, correspondence, editing, music notes, props, photographs, advertising and posters, merchandising and publicity. - PKR-1-20
See FILM AND TELEVISION EPHEMERA List. Information folder held.
view all - StillsPhotograph: print - Portrait - Black and White - bfi-00m-zdg
Photograph: print - Landscape - Black and White - bfi-00m-zdf
Photograph: transparency - Landscape - Colour - bfi-00n-rse
Photograph: transparency - Landscape - Colour - bfi-00n-6h7
Photograph: transparency - Landscape - Colour - bfi-00n-6h6
view all - ArticlesFilm Review February 1997 - InterviewFilm Review February 1997 - NoteEyepiece v17 n5 Oct/Nov 1996 - Articleview all
- Books