Evita’s coffin

A coffin for Madonna

It was August 1995 when Brian Morris and his partner Richard Earl (Production Designer and Art Director respectively) walked into our workshop. We had worked with them before on Wuthering Heights and The Road to Wellville (one of the only films we had ever had a credit for), and he told us that he was probably going to be working on Evita with Alan Parker. It had taken years to bring this musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice to the screen and he seemed genuinely excited by the prospect of designing it. He had a folder full of photocopies of black and white photographs, some more indistinct than others. His main concern was Evita’s funeral that would require flowers, flags and principally her coffin that was almost impossible to see in the fuzzy photocopies he spread out in front of us on the workbench. He said that Evita was considered almost a god in Argentina and Louise, positive as ever, suggested that maybe there were replica coffins available that he might be able to purchase on his next visit to Buenos Aires. We went on to discuss other things they might need and left it at that. A few weeks later Brian rang and said he discovered that the company that had made the original coffin, had made two and were prepared to sell the second one for £11,000. It was decided to purchase it and it duly arrived in a large crate in the back of a Luton van outside the workshop. Alastair, Barry and I went to lift it out of the van but could hardly manage to push it to the door of the van. There was no tail-lift and it required eight people to get it to the ground. We all assumed that the crate must have been made of something far too heavy as we prised off the lid. It had no weight at all being made from quarter inch ply on a lightweight frame. It became clear that the problem was the coffin itself. It was in the shape of a large lozenge on an oval base and was made from solid wood, shaped and then finished with a high gloss lacquered, almost black but with the subtlest hint of aubergine. There were eight handles in bronze finished in silver, and both the lips and the base were banded with a heavy bronze moulding. We took the sides of the crate off to reveal the coffin in all its glory. I was keen to see what it was like inside and went to lift the lid. It wouldn’t move. It wasn’t locked but was so heavy it took two of us to inch the lid open enough to see the raised copper interior lid. It was made from riveted copper sheets and had a small window for the face and hands of Eva Peron to be viewed through. It looked for all the world like a prop from Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea. With some difficulty it was finally inside the workshop and we waited for Brian to visit to give us his opinion. He had quite a few.

The first problem was its weight. During the film the coffin was to be carried by actors and even without its lid it was far too heavy for anyone to carry on their shoulders. We would make one that wouldn’t open and the original one would be used without its lid for the scenes where Evita was lying in state, and for the famous kiss by Antonio Banderas. It would mean making a silicone mould of the whole coffin without its eight bronze handles and heavy bronze trim which we would have to have cast in aluminium and given a finish to look like the original.

The second problem was the copper lining.

‘We want to be able to see Madonna in the coffin lying in state, and we need a totally clear view. This isn’t going to work.’ He asked for us to make a very fine Chromed steel frame to allow for maximum viewing. He asked for glass but Louise pointed out that despite our many millions of public liability insurance it would not cover the costs if the glass broke and injured Madonna. We finally made two covers in Perspex and chrome leaving the end panels open for an air current to be passed through.

The third problem was when we removed the copper cover and Brian saw the lining of the coffin which was nylon lace with a silver lurex thread running though it.

‘I’m not having that,’ he said.

‘But that’s what she had,’ Louise pointed out. ‘This is a duplicate of the one she had.

‘I don’t care, I’m not having Madonna in that.’ It was decided that ivory natural silk, pleated around the edges would be more suitable and Louise went up to Lunn Antiques in the Kings Road Chelsea and purchased a beautiful period lace handkerchief for £85.00 to make into a cushion for Madonna’s head to rest on. Much more tasteful.

The final problem was having to make it.

The original Evita coffin – open  with a perspex lid – and the prop coffin draped in flags, plus three sunbursts for the flags.

Stills from the film showing Evita’s coffin and the raised dias with drapes and prop flowers.

Original footage of Eva Peron’s funeral showing the coffin.  There is a very good close up of it about 9.5 minutes into the film.