An "Evita" Reunion
Tuesday, January 14, 2020 at 8:58PM by Camila Henriques
One thing I love to do each award season is to scan through the connections between the films and nominees. That sighting of Reese Witherspoon and Joaquin Phoenix at the Golden Globes transported me immediately back to 2005's Walk the Line. Amongst this year’s Oscar nominees, though, the connection that has me most nostalgic is one between two category mates: Antonio Banderas and Jonathan Pryce, competing with each other in Best Actor, are finally Academy Award nominees.
They have a past together in Argentina, the same country that gave us Pope Francis, played so delightfully by Pryce. More than two decades ago, Pryce played another famous Argentinian, former president Juan Peron in the Alan Parker/Andrew Lloyd Webber/Madonna extravaganza that was Evita. That movie also featured Spanish heartthrob Banderas, fresh off a successful transition from being the quintessential Almodóvar man to Hollywood player, with talked about turns in Philadelphia and Desperado. He'd become an even bigger international star with Evita...
Antonio, Madonna, Jonathan
In Evita, Pryce and Banderas don't get any true scenes together. Antonio’s character, Che, is a narrator that floats from scene to scene. They do appear in the same frame, but there’s no interaction. The British Pryce does a fairly competent job as Peron, but Evita is truly the Madonna and (to a lesser extent) Antonio show. The Spaniard has the charisma and the voice to lead the story and one can only wonder what he could have done in the film versions of The Phantom of The Opera and Nine, as he would have been a much more appropriate casting option for both films.
Antonio congratulating Madonna during her Globe winBanderas scored a Globe nomination for Evita. The HFPA, as we all remember, awarded Madonna for her performance (I personally loved her work as Eva Perón). Pryce didn’t get any traction for the movie - in fact, his film work has been generally overlooked by awards bodies, with the exception of the Cannes Film Festival, for the previous year's Carrington. He was also nominated at the BAFTAs for that Christopher Hampton film that paired him with Emma Thompson.
This is all a long way of saying it's so great and fitting to see both actors finally get their Oscar due: Pryce by going back to Argentina; And Antonio with a career-best turn in a film guided by the man that discovered him and gave him a big chunk of his most memorable roles.
Now for the most important question: who will Madonna vote for? We here at TFE think she still has that soft spot for Antonio.
Reader Comments (25)
Of course she would vote for Banderas. She is a Almodóvar fanatic. (And yes she should have gotten an oscar nom or win for evita.)
I didn't make that connection and now I feel like I must return my gay card.
Madonna won't vote.
Thank you Camila for mentioning my country, Argentina. I am a translator and interpreter. Before shooting began, Madonna was in Argentina trying to convince then-President Menem to allow them to use the Plaza de Mayo balcony for the climatic scene. She had a previous meeting with a prominent businessman and I interpreted at the meeting. She was very nice.
Now, if you wonder what Banderas could have done with Phantom of the Opera, check this video from a celebration of the work of Andrew Lloyd Webber:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ncjGq9fm_E
And while you're at it, from the same event, a double dose of Glenn Close as Norma Desmond.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Y-hmaltmxs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aC08ibt6UC8
Enjoy!
Camila -- i also LOVE Madonna in "Evita". Nice to hear someone else does. She got so much flak for winning that year since Frances McDormand was right there. But to not even get a nomination was ouch. But then Oscar never liked Madonna. They denied her so many deserved nominations for Best Original Song.
Peggy Sue -- you're probably right that Madonna doesnt' vote on the Oscars....but...
Marki -- agreed. in my *fantasy* she'll jump at the chance to support Antonio again.
EVITA is definitely the best performance of her film career and she definitely should have gotten an Oscar nod for it.
Evita proved that Madonna's acting troubles have to do with her spoken delivery and diction more than anything else. On the other hand, it was sort of a feature-length music video, so of course she'd nail it.
Is Madonna a member of the Academy? After Evita (and This Used to Be My Playground), she ought to be.
Madonna was fucking flawless in EVITA.
Essentially a 2 hour music video with fabulous costume changes... She knows her strong suits and she played them beautifully.
Nathaniel and Mareko-
YES Madonna is a member of the acting branch....
http://thefilmexperience.net/blog/2011/6/26/madonna-is-a-member-of-ampas-pixar-wears-kilts-and-other-new.html
Latino Biopics played by white Europeans reunion. Hooray!
I may be hallucinating, but I distinctly remember her in an article saying she voted for Terrence Malick and The Tree of Life about a decade ago when that was up for director/picture at the Oscars. She's a film buff!
It’s unfortunate we don’t have the alternate reality version with Meryl Streep directed by Oliver Stone. Madonna is a movie killer.
Jonathan Pryce is the jarring note in Evita, totally out of tune. Two Popes would be much better if Anthony Hopkins, an immensely superior actor, were the leader. The point of view should be the one of the "villain", the German pope with the Nazi past - a richer character as his player - and not of the "more human" and linear pope, as they did in Amadeus. Hard to see an actor like Hopkins supporting for Pryce, a good but normal actor.
Banderas was a fool to drop the partnership with Almodovar and come to America to make Zorro and The Puss in Boots, right? Imagine what would have happened if Mastroianni came to Hollywood, what would it have been? What couldn't Almodovar and Banderas have done together all these years if Banderas had continued in Europe? We can't even imagine.
And yes, Evita is a long and glorious music video, Madonna's true habitat. Seeing Madonna in one of those, especially from the 1980s is like watching Judy Garland in the MGM musicals or Grace Kelly in the Hitchcock movies. Perfection. If the world were a huge and eternal music video Madonna would be the supreme leader.
I like Madonna but certainly not a mega-fan like my peers. In fact I like her enough to want her to do well in movies so you can imagine I was thrilled to watch Desperately Seeking Susan. She was so good in it. Then came all the bombs and horrific acting with the exception of Evita and to a lesser effect, A League of Their Own. She's no Babs or Cher at their peak.Not even close. I recall watching that movie with her and Sean Penn and I cringed all the way through in the cinema. But who knows? She may surprise us once more with something like Evita.
About connections. This year Oscar nominee Kathy Bates won for Misery in 1991, same year that Joe Pesci won for Good Fellas. Pesci competed with Al Pacino, who was nominated for Dick Tracy.
In 1992, Laura Dern was nominated for Rambling Rose, same year that Anthony Hopkins won for The Silence of the Lambs.
In the year 1994, Tom Hanks was the best actor for his performance in Philadelfia. In the same category Anthony Hopkins was nominated for The Remais of the Day.
Thanks for noting that Argentina connection! I find it so interesting how Pryce has gotten and now still continues to get so much attention for playing people of different ethnicities.
And, yes, Madonna has been overlooked an astonishing number of times for original song (I agree with the criticism of her acting ability), which, like with Beyoncé and Taylor Swift, is made more noticeable by many Golden Globe nominations in the same category.
I haven't seen Evita but will seek it out. My main problem with Madonna are the gay fans who worship her, and can't imagine her ever retiring. I have a friend who is one of her devotees, and once paid $375 for a front row seat at one of her concerts. I can't imagine paying $375 to see anyone perform.
Given, she is wonderful in music videos. Her performance in Desperately Seeking Susan was very good.
But more importantly, I am thrilled for Antonio's nomination. He is a wonderful actor. He was flawless in Philadelphia. No weirdness at all playing a gay character. And equally great in the Almodovar movies he made.
So, yes, I think she would vote for Antonio. But she hasn't made any films recently, and Academy rules stipulate acting in theatrical releases in the last five years.
Courtney Love should’ve been nominated that year too! (Her GG nod was actually the answer to a Jeopardy question last night)
Imagine how Nine could have been with Banderas as the lead! He could have gotten his first nom back then
The problem with Evita is, it's a bad musical.
The filmmaking is handsome and expensive looking. Madonna is exquisite.
Love Madonna in EVITA and for me she totally deserved her Golden Globe (a very HFPA move). I was so disappointed when the Academy denied her a nom (no matter that it was a very crowded year and the five nominees were mighty performers); imho Madonna's best film perf is the one in Abel Ferrara's Snake Eyes, but it's clear that Eva is the role she will be remembered for.
Pryce is great in CARRINGTON
Kidman presented Madonna with the globe she won the year before for To Die For. Both didn’t get an Oscar nomination. I also really loved Evita and I’m not the biggest Madonna fan.
Oh and Madonna can’t vote to my knowledge. She’s never even been nominated for an Oscar.
Madonna was simply exquisite in Evita. Thank you Nathaniel for pointing it out. And she has been snubbed by the Academy so many times for Best Original Song. In my mind, she should have at least been nominated 4 times for Original Song and maybe a win or two. And yes, the biggest snub of all was with Leading Actress for Evita. I still remember the pain when her name was not announced during nomination day!
Madonna would unmistakingly vote for Antonio. She lusted him since he met him for the first time at an Almodovar party in Madrid (as seen in the doc "In bed with Madonna"). I yearn for an upset and that Antonio's challenge will upset the easier role that Phoenix landed.