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The Vast 'Tango' in Buenos Aires
By Rita Kempley
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, March 19, 1999
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Spanish filmmaker Carlos Saura directs the sensual "Tango."
(Sony Pictures Classics)
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Director:
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Carlos Saura
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Cast:
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Miguel Angel Sola;
Cecilia Narova;
Mia Maestro;
Juan Carlos Copes;
Julio Bocca;
Juan Luis Galiardo |
Running Time:
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1 hour, 55 minutes
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For sensuality
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"Tango," is a movie in which we discover that it doesn't take two to tango after all. Three can tango, four can tango, even vast numbers of chorines can sinuously glide across the stage. At one time or another, everybody in Buenos Aires may well have danced their way across the screen.
This is a movie about making a movie about the tango. This arty, self-indulgent musical celebrates the dazzling complexity of Argentina's demanding national dance and the passions such fancy footwork arouse among enthusiasts of sundry ages, denominations and predilections. Miguel Angel Sola, one of Argentina's best-known actors, plays Mario Suarez, the director of the tango movie within the tango movie. Like Carlos Saura ("Carmen") – he's the actual director of this movie – Mario starts shooting the movie without a script. And like Saura, he doesn't develop a narrative compelling enough to carry the interminable Terpsichore.
Basically, Mario undergoes a midlife crisis, which plays out in the casting and choreography of his movie. While scouting for talent at a local nightclub, Mario meets Elena (Mia Maestro), an aspiring dancer involved with Angelo (Juan Luis Galiardo), a gangster who is financing Mario's movie.
After a successful audition, Elena joins the chorus line and subsequently winds up in bed with the director. Her dancing improves constantly, and he feels a new surge of creativity. Alas, upon discovering their affair, Angelo threatens to pull the plug on the production and to introduce the lovely Elena to the business end of his lengthy shiv.
Meanwhile, Mario's ex-wife (Cecilia Narova) begins to resent sharing the spotlight with the upstart Elena, which leads to a lesbian tango in which the two ladies make out big time. An equal opportunity production, "Tango" also includes a homoerotic number reminiscent of the big dance off between the Jets and the Sharks of "West Side Story." Only here, the gang leaders settle their turf wars with a zesty tango.
There are tangos featuring convent schoolchildren, a renowned tango master (Julio Bocca as himself) and the sins of past Argentine regimes. While beautifully choreographed and energetically performed, the lot seem more suited to stage than screen.
It's enough to make you nostalgic for the Macarena.
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