Tango is a romantic musical, supposedly influenced by
Fellini's 8 1/2, with political overtones to its otherwise almost
mirthful mood. It brings back memories of the generals of 1976
Argentina and their overthrow of the legitimate government. Emphasizing in
one skit how so many people just disappeared during that regime by
showing bodies thrown into a mass grave, which gave the film a jolt of
fear that suddenly changed its light musical mood.
Saura
accomplishes his musical numbers with a rather terse story line which
means that if you don't care for the tango, you could find yourself
bored with this slow-moving story. What is exceptional about this
film, is how superbly choreographed and stunningly colorful and
visionary a spectacle it is. Its cinematographer is the great Vittorio
Storaro (Last Tango in Paris).
Saura captures the passion of
the tango, using Mario (Sola) as his alter ego to hold his story
together. The tango master explains to us that the tango is excellently
done when experienced dancers can perform it so that it appears that
there is one body and four legs in motion.
As the film opens,
Mario is in his opulently decorated apartment recovering from a broken leg in a car accident. He is despondent that his wife Laura (Cecilia)
has left him for another man, presumably a younger man (as far as I
could tell, Mario must be somewhere in his forties). He is busy at his
desk preparing a film that he is directing about the history of
Argentina, starting at the turn of the century. In his vivid imagination
he intercuts what is currently happening to him, envisioning how he
saw things as a child and trying to imagine what the film he is
directing will be about. All this imagining leaves the audience trying
to figure out what is real and what is illusionary, as the story revolves
around his tremendous passion for the tango and his need to be with a
woman who shares his zest for life.
He meets a 23-year-old
novice dancer through a gangster, Angelo (Galiardo), who happens to be
her live-in boyfriend. And, as the main backer of the film, he requests
Mario try her out for a part in the film. He falls in love with
her--and is concerned when she tells him that if she leaves Angelo, he
threatened to hurt her. When he is with Elena, he seems to be over
carrying the torch for his ex-wife.
There is lots of innovative
dancing; and, by Mario, there is lots of deep brooding thought about
life and what must go into the film to make it arty. We see a wind machine
and the next thing we see is a sultry tango being performed; sets are
designed out of seemingly thin air, there are color filters for dance
numbers created on the spot; and, there's a West Side Story look-alike
number with all male dancers.
The dancing is good enough to carry
this film alone. The tango is danced with passion by everyone;
especially graceful were the two women stars along with the great tango dancer, Julio
Bocca. But the story, that's another story, it just
didn't seem that important. The only scene of dialogue that I thought
was really well-done was when Mario was on a dinner date with Elena
and was trying to explain and sell himself to her, telling her how he thought like a young man even if he was getting old. He was eventually
able to convince her of this by just being himself.
The mood
that the musical numbers set was dreamlike, and the dancing was always energetic; the music remained in my head long after seeing the film.
From ofcs.rottentomatoes.com
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