About Madonna filming Evita with Alan Parker in Buenos Aires
David Horvath wrote:
What's the problem with Madonna? Does she too ordenary for them?
 
Zonker H. Harris wrote:
I think that the problem is two-fold...Evita is revered there,
and Madonna is seen as...less than a lady in many countries.
 
and Susana Conde wrote:
>Madonna is filming in Buenos Aires, and she has had an interview with
>President Menem.  Everything sems to be going quite well.  She may have won
>the privilege of filming the famous balcony scenes from the Casa Rosada
>(Presidential Palace).  All the special treatment and the special
>requirements to film her life, as well as the reluctance of many
>Argentineans to let her do this film are due to Evita's status in the memory
>of a large sector of thepublic.  She is considered by that group to hold a
>near-saintly position, because she was intent on bringing down the
>aristocracy and helping the poor, however primitive her efforts were.  Also,
>she died of leukemia when she was 33, a factor weighing heavily in her
>beyond-death position for the overly sentimental Argentineans.
 
I have two things to add:
One: On Saturday 9th shooting started in the balcony from the Pink House,
residence of the government. So finally the production succeed to convince
the president about the use of that location. Otherwise they should have
spend about 8 million dollars to built it some place else. A certain
controversy started when Madonna and the rest of the crew arrived in
Argentina almost a month ago for the reasons pointed above. But, due in
part to the ample and sympathetic media coverage, in the end the oposition
against the film and the actress diluted and things ran smoothly.
 
Two: A very interesting point is that the majority of upper and middle
classes thought about Eva Peron in the fourties the same way some people
think about Madonna these days, i. e., they considered her a whore. So,
there is some true resemblance between the two characters and also a
permanent prejudice against strong and independent women yesterday and now.
 
 
Anyway, to give the whole picture, although lots of argentinians are
sentimental, the discussion about the saint/whore status of Evita is
significant to older generations, while young people don't care much about
the subject now: they know better Madonna than Evita and this is not a
national issue except maybe for the press.
 
Quintin
El Amante / Cine
Buenos Aires
 
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