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| re: I don't think Evita gets enough credit for its contributions to the rebirth of the movie musical. | |
| Last Edit: Delvino 09:54 pm EDT 08/02/20 | |
| Posted by: Delvino 09:53 pm EDT 08/02/20 | |
| In reply to: I don't think Evita gets enough credit for its contributions to the rebirth of the movie musical. - DanielVincent 03:40 pm EDT 08/01/20 | |
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| Who else in the NYC area recalls the advance ticket sales? I went to the opening day (Dec. 26 or 27th if memory serves), the big, premium space on B'way/Upper West Side. I got tickets 10 days in advance, and most performances sold out. It was a spectacularly beautiful film, marred only by the music not shaking the rafters. It needed to feel big, explosive at times, and the soundtrack, even on pristine equipment just didn't have enough power to my ears. Here we had an MTV star in the lead, and the mix in the print was too respectful. Plus, a number like "Buenos Aires" begged for a splashy Madonna performance, and it was edited poorly, no build, no sexual energy, heat or perspiration; afraid to look like a musical number. Small quibble, along with some of Madonna's lesser work (the middle scenes with Pryce, you can see her discomfort with the contact lenses and not having enough intention in scenes; once he's elected, she's at her best). Mostly, it works, and Bandaras doesn't get much credit, either. The great cinematographer, Darius Khondji, did exquisite work. | |
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| re: I don't think Evita gets enough credit for its contributions to the rebirth of the movie musical. | |
| Posted by: EvFoDr 07:25 pm EDT 08/04/20 | |
| In reply to: re: I don't think Evita gets enough credit for its contributions to the rebirth of the movie musical. - Delvino 09:53 pm EDT 08/02/20 | |
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| I didn't live in New York at the time, but we had advance ticket sales where I was, too (Kansas City). That was back before buying in advance was really a thing, and I remember the ticket being very attractive, with a color logo, as opposed to the usual cardboard like thing spit out by most movie ticket machines. I think there was only one--or maybe two--venues in town where the film could be seen on opening weekend. I think in KC it might have been New Year's Day, but could have been Christmas time. It's interesting that you credit the music mix in the film print as being the culprit for certain moments not being big or explosive enough. I always credited that to the casting (yes I know totally necessary in order to get the film made) of a person who could not sing the most exciting and explosive parts of the score as written. I think the orchestra and Antonio Banderas pop rather excitingly throughout. Don't get me wrong, I am not a Madonna hater---like her quite a lot in fact. And watching the movie again recently with some distance I really like what she did in the majority of the film. Overall I think it worked. And for non musical theatre afficianados who don't even like the sound of a "Broadway" singer, and had no point of comparison for the parts of the score Madonna couldn't handle, it could very well have been a perfect experience. I especially enjoy the Lament in the film, which I am pretty certain is not the same cut that is on the commercially released soundtrack. The film version is more raw and emotional. Not sure if Madonna is singing live there or how that was acheived since the entire score had been recorded in advance of filming. I also think that the cut of She Is A Diamond in the film is not the cut on the soundtrack. And again, I think the cut in the film is better. |
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| "Lament" was indeed sung live. | |
| Posted by: DanielVincent 05:50 pm EDT 08/05/20 | |
| In reply to: re: I don't think Evita gets enough credit for its contributions to the rebirth of the movie musical. - EvFoDr 07:25 pm EDT 08/04/20 | |
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| I can't remember if it was on the DVD or even the laserdisc (yes, I had a laserdisc player), but in an audio commentary or possibly an interview, Parker said the Lament (and the whole scene) was indeed sung live. The gist of his comment was that Madonna and Jonathan Pryce did such beautiful work in the scene and it was such a different level of intensity than what had been sung in the studio, he felt he had to use the live version. I have a significantly vaguer memory of a magazine article where Madonna discussed shooting the Lament scene and thinking of her mother, who died when she was a child, and the unborn daughter she was carrying, and how the connection caused the emotion of the scene to hit her much harder. |
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| re: "Lament" was indeed sung live. | |
| Posted by: Michael_Portantiere 02:11 pm EDT 08/06/20 | |
| In reply to: "Lament" was indeed sung live. - DanielVincent 05:50 pm EDT 08/05/20 | |
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| When EVITA was first released and I saw in in a theater on opening night, it was quite clear to me from that first viewing that both "She is a Diamond" and the "Lament" were sung live on set by Pryce and Madonna. There are many things I love about the movie, but I think one of the flaws is that in the bulk of the film, where the songs are lip-synched to tracks, the illusion that the actors are singing live is not successfully created. I think mostly because there's something about the acoustic of the vocals and the sound mix that give the whole thing more of a music video feel, and maybe that was intentional. | |
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