Cheap Biography - Evita: The Woman Behind the Myth (DVD) Price

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Customer Reviews of Biography - Evita: The Woman Behind the Myth

Admirable attempt, impossible objective: Evita is all myth!
"Around no historical figure in modern times are there such complicated myths as those that exist around the figure of Eva, second wife of Juan Peron, best-known by the affectionate diminutive, Evita." So begins the book EVITA: THE REAL LIFE OF EVA PERON. The author, Marysa Navarro, is interviewed in this video and adds, "(Evita) was the woman who invented her own myth, and she was very good at it, because she was an actress, a radio actress. She knows how to pretend to be something other than what she is." So the implication is clear, anyone hoping to remove the myths, and see the woman behind the myths, is going against Evita's wishes. And this is a formidable opponent. Evita was a genius. A genius that, unfortunately, this video (and none I have yet seen) cannot fully encompass.

Robert D. Crassweller, in his book PERON AND THE ENIGMAS OF ARGENTINA, notes that, "(Evita's) brief and dazzling years were so successful because, in good part, she was so profoundly of the ethos . . . but it was the ethos of the old Hispanic Creole tradition . . . (pp. 248)." He further notes that, "All Hispanic life seemed to be concentrated in a series of distant opposites held in very uneasy tension. The vastly rich and the totally poor; the highest of religious ideals and the lowest of conniving practices; unquestioning loyalty and foul treachery . . . a society of disjointed dualisms, lacking any continuum (pp. 27)." The author argues that understanding this concept of extremes, so counter to Anglo-Saxon sensibilities, is key to understanding Hispanic culture. Since Evita lived in and embodied Hispanic culture, any biography of her that does not take this into account is doomed to fall short of an enlightened depiction of her. And that is what happens with this video.

Don't get me wrong; this is an interesting video. What is most interesting about this video is the wide range of people who are interviewed, most of them authors, but a few friends and admirers. These include: a photographer from Evita's modeling days, film star Libertad Lamarque, Tomas Eloy Martinez (author of SANTA EVITA), Lillian Guardo (friend who accompanied Evita on her tour of Europe), historian Felix Luna, and Maria Elena Warner (resident of the "Evita City" housing district, which Evita founded). This wide range of commentators, some pro-Evita and some not, is wonderful. Unfortunately, no one is really given a very long time to talk. It really leaves you wanting more.

Somewhat irritating is the fact that while this video succeeds in dispelling certain myths about Evita (such as the belief that she helped free Peron from jail in 1945, thus ushering him into his first presidential term), it reinforces others. The most notable re-told myths being: the idea that Evita had Libertad Lamarque "blacklisted" from working in Argentine cinema ("Libertad left Argentina for Mexico in 1946... Since the Mexican movie industry was in better shape . . . Libertad Lamarque's films were always shown in Argentina, and she came back frequently to see her family." EVITA: THE REAL LIFE OF EVA PERON, pp. 202); the assertion that Peron was a fascist ("Peronism was not fascism. Some of Peronism's adherents had a fascist outlook and mentality . . . But all this was relatively superficial. No fascist society was ever erected on a mass base of laboring and dispossessed hordes. In its own description, Peronism rejected the Fascist parallel. It was more intimately grounded in the national history and ethos than was any European fascism." PERON AND THE ENIGMAS OF ARGENTINA, pp. 220). Thus this video claims by its title to dispel myths, but it really just perpetuates some.

Interesting and eerie is the fact that never-before-shown footage of Evita's embalmed corpse is included. Evita had been dead several decades at this point, and yet her corpse is perfectly preserved like Lenin's. Unsettling to the North American observer, such an attitude toward death could be seen in light of the "Hispanic preoccupation with death and with the splendor and dignity associated with it (PERON AND THE ENIGMAS OF ARGENTINA, pp. 248)." Again, this cultural distinction is not mentioned by the narrator.

Not surprisingly, it is Madonna herself who seems to grasps the most important aspect of Evita's life and personality: the tradition of polarization. "I became sort of obsessed with her," Madonna confesses in a very brief sound bite, "People I talked to were either completely for her or completely against her. That fascinated me. I wondered, 'What's the truth in all this?'" That 'is' the truth about Evita, that a polarized culture created polarized myths about a polarized woman. For some she is a saint, for others the devil. For those with no concept of the polarities of Hispanic culture, she is destined to be an enigma. Unfortunately, this documentary largely overlooks this vital ingredient.

Most memorable about this video are the statements made my Antonio Cafiero, Peron's Minister of Commerce: "When you put together the combination of being a woman, and being fanatic for a cause, you have an explosion the size of an atom bomb. THAT was Eva Peron." The more gentle quote by Mr. Cafiero being, "She is the symbol of the eternal struggle, the fight of the poor and disinherited who want more dignity in their lives. People don't forget that." Indeed, this year marks the 50th anniversary of her death, and here I sit writing a review for a biography of her . . .

Disappointing
If anyone buys this video with the idea of learning the truth about Eva Peron's life, he'll be disappointed. Unfortunately, it appears the producers of "Biography" simply accepted the misinformation that Webber/Rice used for their production. It was interesting to see real life film of scenes that were reproduced in the movie. Otherwise, the video is very disappointing. If one wants to know about the real Evita, look for a good book. Considering how little research seems to have gone into the production of this biography, I'll be slower in accepting what I see in other A&E Biography segments.