Madonna arrived in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Saturday, January 20, to film Evita directed by Alan Parker. She boarded a blue Mercedes and went straight from the airport to her suite at the Hyatt Hotel. Live television covered her arrival, including a helicopter which filmed her car as it travelled into town.

Filming began on February 8th. The films' co-stars Antonio Banderas and Jonathan Pryce arrived in Buenos Aires few days after Madonna, to find out that the Peronist Party was campaigning against the movie and Madonna, calling her "unsuitable" to play the part of the beloved queen of "descamisados".

Some graffiti appeared around the city saying "Viva Evita - Fuera Madonna!", which means "Long Live Evita - Madonna get out!".
They were being put up by the Organization Command (Comando de Organizacion), a far right-wing group led by Peronist leader Alberto Brito Lima.
"Eva Perón is the embodiment of the Malvinas, I defend Eva as if she were the Malvinas", said Lima.

Peronist legislator Marta Rivadera went further ahead with the anti Madonna campaign, asking the Lower House of Congress to consider a motion to declare Madonna, British director Alan Parker and the entire crew "not welcome" in Argentina.
"Madonna is not fit to represent Evita. This script by an English man attacks our history and offends our dignity. It is an insult to all the Peronist people. I am in favour of freedom of expression but I am against this lie which will distort the figure of our santa Evita."

Madonna first reacted by issuing a brief statement reassuring Argentine people. She said: "I would never insult the memory of Evita". Meanwhile her fans started to gather outside her hotel everyday and everynight to get a glimpse of their idol and give her support by chanting: "Eva Maddona! Eva Maddona!"

"It's just a movie," said a girl fan with the phrase "I Love Madonna" painted on her bare stomach.
"If people are so upset, why didn't they think of making the film themselves before?"
Another fan stated: "The uproar over Madonna playing Evita is stupid. They should declare Argentina's former military dictators "persona non grata" instead". One day Madonna saluted them a la Evita, waving hands to them from her room's balcony.
In her Vanity Fair diary Madonna recalls: " There was a demonstration in my honor yesterday afternoon. All of my fans got together and marched from the Obelisco (a monument in the middle of the Avenida Nuevo de Julio) all the way to my hotel. When they arrived they chanted "Eva/Madonna" for a while, then they had 10 minutes of silence. The they started to play "Like A Prayer" and at this point I went out to the balcony and waved and blew kisses and almost started to cry."

Argentinian president Carlos Menem publicly expressed his displeasure too.
"I don't see Madonna in that role," Menem said. "Of course, this is a matter for those who are financing the film to decide, but I don't think that Argentina's people, who continue to see Evita as a true martyr, will tolerate it." Menem also suggested that an Argentine actress would have been better for the part, adding: " There is a niece of Evita who looks just like her. She is an architect and a very well-prepared woman".

The Peronist old guard feared that Madonna's portrayal of Evita could harm Eva's reputation from near-whore to almost saintly stature they build up over the last 40 years. What they can't accept is that Evita contained both elements. For that reason, the original rock opera was banned in Argentina for many years and no full theatre production has ever been staged in Evita's own country.
Juan Carlos Gullo - a middle generation Peronist leader - said: "We must defend our historical heritage, the people who are making this film do not understand that this is almost religion for us. Can you imagine Madonna playing Mother Teresa of Calcutta?"

Some other Peronists had milder views. Hugo Rodriguez Canabilla then president of the Eva Peron Foundation stated: "That kind of xenophobia is totally outdated, nothing Parker or Madonna can do, can affect Evita's image. She is almost like Jesus Christ, who also died at 33, she is beyond any of that. Behind some of this resentment is perhaps the fact that Alan Parker has the money for this super-production, which Argentines would like to be able to film themselves."


Meeting the press

Few days before starting filming, a press conference with all the main actors and director Alan Parker has been organized trying to calm down peronist protesters and to explain to the Argentinian press that the film had noble intentions.
Madonna turned up at the press conference very much in character, wearing a tailored suit and tied back blond hair.
She calmly replied to the press questions:

How do you feel knowing that there is a lot of negative opinions here in Argentina of you playing Evita Peron?

"I can't say I didn't feel hurt, but I think that the negative things people say are founded on things they don't really understand. I urge everyone to form their own opinions after they've seen the movie"

What kind of interesting things did you discover talking to people who knew the real Evita?

"I have a great admiration for Evita. I think she's a remarkable woman. The biggest surprise was how many people told me how shy she was".

The way you dress and do your make up makes you look very similar to Evita. Is this because you're working on developing the character or is it just for publicity?

"It has nothing whatsoever to do with publicity and everything to do with the character that I'm portraying"
In her Vanity Fair diary Madonna recalls again:

"Thank God that's over with. A press conference is worth 100 trips to the dentist. My heart was pounding so loudly I was sure the whole room could hear it. It wasn't as bad as I expected. Only a few cranky questions from a few women who looked like they didn't have enough love in their lives. Jonathan Pryce, who plays Juan Peron, was very witty.
Several very good-looking boys sat in the front row blowing me kisses and mouthing the words "I love you." This cheered me up immensely. I continue to read negative press negative press from around the world, including the US, that somehow still manages to hurt my feelings. I will never get used to the hostility that comes from fear and envy. That basic human desire that most people have to see another person fail.
"When we arrived in Buenos Aires," director Alan Parker recalled, "it seemed like there was a sign on every wall and bridge telling us to go home. There were a lot saying, "Viva Evita! Fuera Madonna!" Some of them were very threatening. I remember seeing the word muerte, death, more than once. I admit I felt some fear. I was wondering if, after all the complex preparation - the building of sets, the lavish costumes - we were going to get thrown out of the country before we could start.

It was very tough, but I think we gradually won the people over. Madonna was terrific in a press conference talking about Evita, which was televised all over Argentina, and by the end of filming most of the signs had disappeared. In fact, every night there were a bunch of fans outside Madonna's hotel yelling. I made sure my hotel was as far away from hers as possible. I needed my sleep."

Paparazzi started to follow Madonna everywhere, her every move was well documented.

On the balcony of the Casa Rosada

To film the movie's most famous scene, Alan Parker made a personal request for the use of the famous balcony from which Evita addressed the huge crowds who rallied to cheer her outside Government House in Plaza de Mayo, but the request remained unanswered by Argentinian president Menem for many weeks. Parker and the producers hoped to film Madonna singing "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" on the real Casa Rosada balcony, but they were of course also prepared to rebuilt the balcony in a film studio.

Madonna provided the biggest help in obtaining the "real" balcony. She asked many time to people close to the president to be invited along with Alan Parker by President Menem, to discuss and explain the intentions of the film.
Parker recalls: "Everyone told us no. I'd begged everybody. We had the American ambassador helping us and, also, the British ambassador. But we got turned down time and again. Then, one night, Madonna, Antonio Banderas, Jonathan Pryce and I got invited to meet President Carlos Saul Menem. It was surreal. He served us pizza that he insisted was the best in the whole world. Then Madonna suddenly said, "Can we cut to the chase here? Are we going to get to film on your balcony or not?" The president said, "Yes." We were so stunned we didn't finish our pizza.

Madonna recalls: "Alan was basically reiterating what he had said in the press conference about having freedom as artists, and everyone was being very polite and I couldn't take it anymore. So in the middle of the discussion about pizza I said, " When we're done talking about pizza can we talk about balconies?" And Menem said that he was sure there would be no problem if we used it an and any other government building we wanted. I was ready to jump for joy, but Alan shot me down by saying that we'd already spent so much money on a replica of it in London that financially it wouldn't make sense to shoot here. Not to mention the fact that we did not have the proper lighting equipment. But hadn't the reason for the meetings been to convince him to let us shoot on the balcony? And what an honor and a thrill to be able to stand there looking down on that plaza at night filled with all those people, singing "Don't Cry For Me Argentina".

Menem's daughter Zulema called Zulemita was also present at the meeting. Madonna remembers her as "a thing wisp of a girl who seemed very fragile and very sad. She held her father's hand through the entire meeting and they kissed and whispered things to each other in a very intimate way. I was mesmerized by them".
On Sunday, March 20, few days before leaving Argentina, the crew's dream came true. In her diary Madonna remembers:

"Last night was like a dream and yet it happened so easily and effortlessly I have to keep pinching myself to make sure that I haven't imagined it. Last night I walked out on the balcony of the Casa Rosada in front of thousands of people and sang "Don't Cry For Me Argentina". In the exact place she had stood so many times before, I raised my arms and looked into the hungry eyes of humanity, and at that moment I felt her enter my body like a heat missile, starting with my feet, traveling up my spine, and flying out my fingertips, into the air, out to the people, and back up to heaven.

Afterwards I could not speak and I was so happy. But I felt a great sadness too. Because she is haunting me. She is pushing me to feel things. When you want something bad enough the whole earth conspires to help you get it".
 

Article written and compiled by The Immaculate for Madonna Tribe.