Customer Reviews

Evita: The Documentary

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
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2 star:		(1)
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Brunette Eva Duarte arrived in Buenos Aires at the young age of 15 to seek her fortunes as a radio and motion picture actress. She would die 17 years later as the blonde goddess Eva Peron giving birth to a legend which to this day inspires fantatical love and hate. What happened in between those 17 years makes a fascinating story and is the basis of this interesting documentary about the late, great Argentine First Lady.

I have been an avid collector of Eva Peron and own over 150 items from books, magazines, movies & practically every documentary in existance. This documentary is definitely one of the better efforts. The photographic reproductions are in most instances, fantastic and there are a few rarities as far as the newsreel footage is concerned. I just wished the documentary would have been longer and more rare footage was shown such as Eva Duarte's film's and more footage of her in Europe during her extravagant "Rainbow Tour".

The documentary is nuetral. It does not villify the woman and in no way does it portray her as the self-less saint of Peronist propaganda. It portrays her as a young woman with strengths, weaknesses and extraordinary charisma who changed the politics of an entire nation for better or for worse.

The one thing that bothers me about the majority of the documentaries about Evita (even the countless ones released in Argentina) is that the same footage is always shown and repeated ad nauseum. The footage is usually unclear, with scratches showing it's age. The best footage I have seen of Eva are from documentaries released over 40 years ago, one narrated by Mike Wallace from the Biography series and simply titled "Eva Peron" is pretty hateful but offer some of the best footage of Eva Peron I have ever seen on film (especially during her Rainbow Tour) and the other, narrated by Walter Kronkite titled "Peron & Evita" is more objectionable and a bit shorter, but the footage is crystal clear. The images shown in these out-dated documentaries were of much higher quality than the ones released recently. The A & E biography used some of these old archival footage which is another documentary worthy of checking out.

I remember several months ago, I saw an introduction of this documentary on YOU TUBE which was a bit different and used other archival film footage. I remember being impressed with it and I wonder why it was changed. With that said, "Evita: The Documentary" is well put together, well researched and well narrated. It not only deals with the Argentine situation during the First Peronist period but also touches upon the Fascist governements of the time period, the second world war and the economic situtations of the world and ties it all in with the rise and fall of Eva and Juan Peron. It's a bit short (IMO) but as previously mentioned, it is pretty detailed and gives us a glimpse into the life of this beautiful blonde political leader who aroused fierce passions among her fellow countrymen. Her story is laced with politics and mythology and no matter how one feels about her, we cannot deny her brilliance and power. The woman is deservedly a legend.

I purchased an advance copy of this new documentary on the life of Eva Duarte de Peron (Evita), and received it a few days ago. I have since watched it twice. As one fascinated with the complex story of Evita's life, I found it more informative than other films, books, and documentaries available to me. It goes into details of her entire life and places them in context with world events that shaped not only her destiny, but the politics of Argentina as a whole. It is also appears a balanced perspective, bringing a larger understanding of how one woman could become so revered as a saint yet despised as a despot. There is much archival film, some showing clips of Evita giving speeches with the sound intact and subtitled - which I have never seen or heard before. I recommend this film to anyone seeking a detailed look into the life of this intriguing figure in history.

As the previous descriptions suggest, this documentary explains the circumstances and pressures affecting Argentina during the rise and death of Evita. In order to see what was going on in the world during Evita and Juán Perón, I have been cross-referencing dates and reading online databases - mostly [...], which I also recommend. This documentary does much of the legwork I've done plus it has wonderful, historical footage. The documentary offers a few nuggets of information that will help understand the course that Argentina took after Perón, and how some of the ingredients necessary for the Dirty War were planted. The documentary has an epilogue which takes us through the years after the death of Evita - a welcome inclusion.

Where this documentary falls short is in helping decipher the wonderful, historical footage! Many of the images shown are compelling and go with the narrative, but one is not sure, exactly, of what is been shown. The credits and sources are difficult to read, as they are projected in white letters on a Black&White background and the resolution of the words is not adequate. Otherwise, this is a very informative and eloquent documentary.

Thanks!

Padigonia Films presents a well documented film of Evita and the politics of her time.

As someone who has been researching Eva Peron's life for more than a decade, has read every book he could find on the subject, and who wrote the Wikipedia article about Eva Peron, I feel qualified to say that this is not a serious biography of Eva Peron. It's sensationalist and in many cases historically inaccurate.

The question may arise: if I feel that this isn't a good documentary, then do I have a recommendation? Well, that's the problem. I have yet to find a documentary about Eva Peron that does not have errors. I suppose errors are inevitable in all biographies. But it seems that with Eva Peron attempts at biography are often propaganda masquerading as biography. Probably the best video biography of Eva Peron available would be the one from A&E, though even that one is biased against Evita. If you can, try to get a copy of the "Lifetime: Intimate Portrait: Eva Peron." Being that it is a Lifetime production it is inevitably geared toward a female audience (sometimes even having an Oprah "uplifting" vibe about it), but it avoids what I think is present in documentary on this listing: rehashing of negative and unsubstantiated rumor.

Eva Duarte arrived in Buenos Aires (year) a 16-year-old runaway with ambitions of being a radio star, perhaps in movies; she would die in as many years the star of a far greater epic. "Evita" places the Argentinian spiritual leader, popularized and idealized in Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical and the Alan Parker film, within the context of this historical epic, from her illegitimate birth to her swift death to the riots that continue in her name 100 years later.

This is the first time that I'm able to face the character in an accurate historical perspective. The use of film archives help situate Evita in place and time, in concordance with the political development of the first half of the Twentieth century. In many ways the documentary resorts to the biographical experience to reveal itself as a master class in Argentine History. Loved the music and the narrator's voice. Congrats!

Evita is one of the greatest women of political power! This documentary does a great job showing her rise from poverty to being a political legend...job well done!