Madonna (52 page)

Although shown at the 1995 Berlin Film Festival,
Blue in the Face
failed to find an audience. This film also suffers from its lack of plot or character development. Leonard Maltin condemned this one, too, calling it an “overindulgent mess.” (264)

The one good role that Madonna did choose was in Spike Lee's 1996 film
Girl 6
. Although this wasn't one of his biggest box-office hits, it is well-acted, well-plotted, and thoroughly entertaining. The film recounts the story of a girl, played by Theresa Randle, whose acting career is floudering. Needing a paycheck, she goes to work for a telephone sex service. An imaginative actress, she becomes wildly successful at the service but finds herself getting too involved in the soap-opera lives of some of her customers. Randle is beautiful, vulnerable, and very appealing to watch. Seeking a change of pace, she interviews with another service that would allow her to make the calls from her home. Madonna, playing the owner of that particular service, looks wonderful and speaks confidently. Made up and lit beautifully, she is seen squeezed into a tight red sweater and wears several gold bangle bracelets.

In
Girl 6
, Madonna has an amusing scene with Randle, in which they discuss the sexual fetishes of some of her clients. “Shitting is really big right now, don't ask me why,” Madonna says with a straight face. Although her appearance is extremely brief, she makes the most of it. The film also features Ron Silver, Naomi Campbell, Debi Mazar, Jennifer Lewis, Quentin Tarantino, Halle Berry, Richard Belzer, and Spike Lee himself. Unfortunately, this entertaining film was in and out of theaters, despite a great cast and a snappy all-Prince soundtrack.

In November 1995, Motown Records released a tribute album,
Inner City Blues—The Music of Marvin Gaye
, that featured Madonna's interpretation of Gaye's song “I Want You,” which she recorded with the group Massive Attack. That same month, she released her own album,
Something to Remember
. Somewhat of a “greatest hits” package, it featured only her favorite ballads from 1984 to 1995, plus three new cuts. The album included two versions of “I Want You,” which neatly bookended the other twelve selections, one percussive, and one orchestrated. “You'll See” was the album's other new cut.

One of the funniest understatements in this album package is Madonna's comment in her liner notes. Introducing this ballad hits package she begins, “So much controversy has swirled around my career this past decade that very little attention ever gets paid to my music.” No kidding? And who created that situation?

Despite her recent sexual antics,
Something to Remember
is a beautiful album, graced with a strong unifying feeling in the ballad realm. “This Used to Be My Playground” makes its Madonna-album debut here, and it sounds great next to her ballad classics from years past, including “Crazy for You,” “Live to Tell,” and “Rain.”

The album debuted in England at Number Three and in America at number six, marking its peak on both charts. Ultimately, it was certified Platinum for selling over a million copies in the United States. The single “You'll See” hit Number Five in England and Number Six in America. A second single was released from the album, the remixed version of “Love Don't Live Here Anymore,” which had originally appeared on her
Like a Virgin
album in 1984. That particular song stalled at Number 78, becoming by far the least successful single of her career.

Something to Remember
was something of a crossroads album for Madonna, a chance to reflect on her career and to review some of the songs that denned her legend. In Madonna's view:

Two of the most successful and touching songs included on that album were “You'll See” and “One More Chance.” Like so many of Madonna's projects, the writing and recording of these songs overlapped with another career milestone. She was about to head into her most challenging project, and these two compositions benefited from that anticipation. “If you listen to those songs,” she explained at the time, “you can hear how I was trying to absorb and utilize what I was learning from the recording of
Evita
.” (266)

Everything Madonna had done in the past ten years was based on her fame and her position in show business. She had been cast in movies and stage shows solely on her notoriety and her marquee drawing power. She had done entire films based completely on her ability to bankroll them, and had been cast in others simply for the controversial value of her name. This time around she would not be in control. She couldn't use her millons of dollars to buy her way into
Evita
, nor could she simply charm her way through it.

There was no more perfect a vehicle to turn her into a legitimate film star, and there was no more challenging role for her. Up to this point in her career she had a track record for being breathtakingly stunning in song-length music videos and painfully horrendous as a dramatic actress
{Shanghai Surprise, Speed the Plow, Body of Evidence)
. Since
Evita
was a complete opera, with every line either sung or lyrically recited, this was her one opportunity to shine on screen. This epic came to be known as the longest music video ever filmed, and she knew that she was ready for the challenge.

The last time Madonna had been considered for the role of Evita Peron, it was in the mid-1980s. However, the production never fully seemed to get off the ground. At first it looked as if Meryl Streep was going to be Madonna's top competitor for the role; in 1987 it looked like Oliver Stone was going to direct. Throughout the entire process Madonna had coveted the role. Finally, in 1994, it was announced that Alan Parker would direct the film for Hollywood Pictures, and the award-winning
Evita
was green-lighted again. Parker had scored huge critical successes with
Mississippi Burning, Midnight Express
, and
Angel Heart
, so his presence at the helm assured that
Evita
would be handled with dramatic and historic scope.

According to Madonna at the time: “I remember sitting down during Christmas of ‘94 and writing an impassioned four-page letter to the director, Alan Parker, listing the reasons why I was the only one who could portray her, explaining that only I could understand her passion and her pain. I can honestly say that I did not write this letter of my own free will. It was as if some other force drove my hand across the page. Soon after ward I heard from Alan and, following several nerve-racking meetings, the part was mine.” (267)

This extravagant $59 million production was a huge risk for everyone involved. Not since the days of
Grease
(1978) and
Hair
(1979) had there been a hit musical film adapted from a Broadway musical—let alone one of epic proportions. Film producers and movie studios rarely wanted to bother with them. Appearing as the focal point of almost every scene, Madonna had to deliver the goods this time around, or her cinematic ambitions could be derailed permanently.

Fortunately, Alan Parker also directed
Bugsy Malone
(1976),
Fame
(1980),
Pink Floyd—The Wall
(1982), and
The Commitments
(1991), so he had a deep understanding of the musical-film genre. He knew how to mix drama and music, and he understood how to make a show-stopping number have grandeur and impact.

Whatever Madonna said in her four-page handwritten letter, she certainly made an impact on him. Although he had already had a few conversations with actress Michelle Pfeiffer, he was also seriously considering Madonna for the part.

“I just knew that no one could understand what she [Eva] went through more than I,” Madonna proclaimed. “I related to her commitment, discipline, and ambition [and] that bravery required for a girl of fifteen to come from the pueblos and go to Buenos Aires to find her way in entertainment and later in politics. Her suffering as a child was a catalyst to make a better life. I understood that.” (252)

According to Parker, “Madonna promised me from the very beginning she would give her all, and she has kept her promise. She's given herself to the film and to me.” (246) She wanted the movie role so badly that she accepted a flat fee of $1 million, foregoing a percentage of the profits. By the superstar standards of the 1990s, that was a bargain.

Madonna, who had begun her career donning crucifixes as a fashion accessory, suddenly found herself shifting from a sexual to a spiritual energy mode. Just as devotedly as she had thrown herself into producing and promoting her
Sex
book, she immersed herself in the life of Eva Peron. “I see this role as being my destiny,” she claimed. “I don't think anyone could have prayed as hard as I did for the film to go ahead. I put on amulets, lit candles—even consulted fortune-tellers.” (268)

She became actively involved in making certain that she not only portrayed the role with dignity, historic correctness, and believable compassion, but that the production succeeded on all levels. When the production company was denied the permit to film the famed “Don't Cry for Me Argentina” balcony scene at the Casa Rosada, where the real Eva Peron addressed her people, it was Madonna who made it her mission to try and charm the president of Argentina into changing his mind. As usual, she was successful in her endeavor.

The similarities between Madonna and the real-life Evita, two of the most famous and written-about women of the twentieth century, abound. At the beginning of Madonna's music career, she became notorious for flirting with and dating men who could help her get what she wanted. She would promptly cast them aside when they were no longer useful. She didn't stop until she was at the top of the entertainment business. Struggling actress Eva Duarte dated the right men who could move her career forward in 1930s and 1940s Argentina. She too discarded them when they had served their purpose. She didn't stop until she was the first lady of the country, and an icon of power and glory who became known as the beloved Evita. Many in Argentina regarded her as a traitor and an opportunist, but even more regarded her as a modern-day saint.

The stage musical
Evita
, written by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber, has a unique and involved history of its own. Like their earlier masterpiece,
Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita
began as an operatic concept album. The original 1976 album starred Julie Covington as Eva. Covington originated roles in shows like
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
, and in the 1970s hit TV miniseries
Rock Follies
. Her whispery alto voice was especially effective on Eva's poignant ballads.

The first staged version of
Evita
premiered on London's West End in 1978, and starred Elaine Paige, who brought fiery bravado and brassiness to the role. The following year
Evita
opened on Broadway, with Patti LuPone as Eva Duarte Peron, winning Tony Awards and Grammy Awards. It was LuPone's show-stopping rendition of “Don't Cry for Me Argentina” with which American audiences were most familiar, as for several years Patti sang the song on just about every variety or awards telecast. LuPone's strong and forceful Broadway delivery became widely associated with the show and particularly with the portrayal of Eva.

A wide number of female vocalists during this era, including Karen Carpenter and Donna Summer, recorded the dramatic ballad “Don't Cry for Me Argentina.” When the news became known that Madonna had indeed been awarded the role of her lifetime, one of the most frequently asked questions was whether or not she had the powerful voice to compete with all of the previous Evita interpretations.

Madonna also had to compete with her own legend. She had spent the last four years promoting an overheated image of overt sexual antics with men, women, and their house pets. Stylistically, Madonna may have felt flexible enough as an actress to make the transition from recording songs about cunnilingus, writing and appearing nude in an arguably pornographic photo book, and starring in movies about women who kill their lovers with too much rough sex, to portraying the famous first lady of Argentina. However, not everyone shared her opinion.

Politically, Eva Peron and her husband, Juan Peron, made sweeping changes and improvements in Argentina in the late 1940s and early 1950s. However, they also moved millions of dollars from the country's treasury into their own Swiss bank account. Not long after Eva's untimely death in 1952, Peron fell out of power in Argentina, and anti-Peronists denounced his wife's memory. Even their house had been demolished. In the 1970s public opinion changed, and Evita was again revered as a national heroine. In Argentina the prospect of Madonna—of
Sex
and
Erotica
fame—portraying her on screen was far from popular.

In a public statement Argentine president Carlos Menem scoffed, “I don't see Madonna in the role. I don't think Argentina's people, who see Evita as a true martyr, will tolerate it.” (269) Madonna's track record for challenging Catholicism and Christian mores didn't win her any points either. Even the archbishop of Buenos Aires harshly condemned the casting decision: “Madonna is pornographic and unsuitable.” (268)