If all you know about Eva (Evita) Peron is that she asked Argentina not to cry for her, be prepared to be schooled. Argentine filmmaker Pablo Aguero is planning a film about the aftermath of Eva Peron’s death, and rumor has it he’s got some pretty big stars to join it. Both Gael Garcia Bernal and Mia Maestro (Twilight) have reportedly signed on for the as-yet-untitled film.
Word is that Bernal will be playing Emilio Eduardo Massera, a naval officer who played a key role in the junta that followed in Argentina after the death of Eva Peron and the overthrow of her husband Juan Peron in 1955.
The film will follow what happened to her corpse, which remained unburied and moved around, as Argentina fell into a military dictatorship intended as a rebellion against capitalism the ended with brutal repression. Aguero wants to look at Evita’s legacy, presumably (and finally) from an Argentinian perspective. The tentative title is Evita, but we all know that that will not stick for long.
Mia Maestro, meanwhile, is playing Evita herself – despite the fact that her character’s dead for the duration of the film. But Evita will appear, nonetheless, “through fragments and shadows.” Maestro does have experience with playing dead people, after all.
I like the idea of a new perspective on Eva Peron, especially given the romanticization she’s incurred in North America thanks to Andrew Lloyd Webber and Madonna. She’s a controversial figure in Argentinian history, with an almost mythical status that I hope this film will examine and (possibly) deconstruct. Bernal has a good track record with picking his films, and here he will have the rare opportunity to play a proper villain. No singing, though. Sorry everyone.
Filming (as well as a proper title) should be getting underway in 2014.
Published: May 23, 2013 09:42 am