LECTURE SIX

Evita

Terms

Evita is a Andrew Lloyd Webber/Tim Rice musical. This is the same team that did Jesus Christ Super Star and Joseph and his Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, so they are not new to the idea of musicl biographies,

The film introduced a new song, "You Must Love Me" in order that the film could be nominated for an academy award for best song. A new song was needed since academy awards for songs go only to songs which are written specifically for films. The plot worked and Webber not only got the nomination, but won. Some of the grammar and some of the semantice seem a bit odd. "The chains of the masses untied" for example, while others seem to switch referent mid stream = "I'd get out while you can" and "And if ever I need a rest, give your lover the very best, eral eider down and silence", where "I" and "lover" are the same person. There is also some question about the line (borrowed in idea at least from a choice made by Achilles who opted for a short life and fame rather than a long life and insignificance). Evita's line "The choice was mine and mine completely, I could have any prize that I desired, I could burn with the splendor of the brightest fire, or else, or else I could choose time". Did Evita rally make a choice to die young and have fame??? In addition there are some common idioms introduced into the text: "They were slightly to the right of Attila the Hun".

Musicals

From the earliest days of fiolm, music has been an integral part of the showing of films. Films were never really "silent". They lackedd synchronized sound, but were always meant to be accomanied by music. Music appears in films in several ways. Most common is non-diagetic music. Non diagetic refers to things that are outside the world of the film. Background music is a clear example, of music which is non-diagetic. The characters in the film do not hear it.

For some people, non-diagetic sound is any sound added in post production. This is an awkward definition in that in Italian films for example, all sound is added in post, so there is no diagetic sound in these filmd if one uses this definition.

Some films have diagetic music. This may be nothing more than a radio playing int the house, or it may amount to fully staged theatrical performances which take place in the film. Many biographies of performers have a large amount of music in them although they are not generally seen as musical. For a film to be considered a musical, the music must occur in spaces in which iot would not normally occur. In Oklahoma, Judd and Curley sing "Poor Jud is Dead", although one suspects this in not actually something Curly and Jud would actually be singing. Yet the structure of the text certainly removes it from ordinary speech. One can ask whether or not the performers are inclined to hear each other as singing or talking, since clearly there are great tracts of dialog which are spoken and not sung.

There are often questions raised in musicals about the transition from the spoken word to the sung one. How is such a trnsition handled by the writers and performers?

A different problem arises with pieces like Evita whicha are durchkomonert or "composed throughout". That is to say these is little or no spoken material in the piece. Since there is no contrast between those parts that are spoken and those which are not, the question of whether the characters here something different becomes moot.

Singing generally takes more time to produce a line than speaking does so in effect the music has to fill in the gaps. In a strange way musicals put the strese on music as the carrier of information whereas film puts the emphasis on the visual. Uniofying these two is sometimes tricky.It has been said that when speech fails, the characters should sing, and when singing fails, they should dance. In effect singing is more intense than speaking and dancing more intense than singing. While most musicals are geared to singers, a few are geared to dancers and one can ask similar questions about whether or not the dancing is taking place in a "dance space" or not.

In some films, diagetic music and non diagetic music are not clearly apart. In some films people respond to what might be non diagetic music or is the music responding to something in their heas)? Musicals, by and large have of late been far more successfuil in theater than in film. Whether this is because people expect more realism in film is something to think about.

Evita has some rather spectacular photography and the images often look like early photos from Life magazine. There is a certain amount of desaturation of film and a heavy tendecy often to lean towards the waarmer end of the spectrum.

Musically, Madonna may not be up to the part, and many feel dramatically she doesn't have enough edge to the character. None the less she surprised many people with her portrayal, while to some degree disappointing her fans who expected to see her running around in her underwear.Some people also complained that she was far too old to try to play the young Evita. She probably didn't want anyone else to play the part. There is also a change in the film in which "Another Suitcase in Another Hall" is taken from Peron's young girl friend whom Evita replaces and is given to Evita.

How is the film "opened up" so as not to appear as though it is a filmed version of the play?

AFTER THE FILM

Does the film have the usual "truth statements" marking it as a biography. Why might that be? How do you feel about the problem of the biography being musical? Does it require sufficient suspension of belief that it is hard to accept the film as "real"?

None the less, the film does go back to Evita's childhood in attempt to explain her motivations and attitudes (especially to the middle class)

What is the effect of structuring the piece as a massive flashback?

How do you feel about Che (Banderas) singing exposition at you in direct address?

What role does Che play here? Does he function like a Greek chorus? Che and Evita never met - and certainly not in the way shown here. What effect iof any does Che have on the film as a "bio-pic"? How would you compare and contrast the set designs for Junin and Buenas Aires. How do the set designs change as Eva moves up in the social structure?