BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

Dotbankey A lot of fun.

Michelle Ridley The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

Scarlet The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

MartinHafer I'll admit it up front--I don't care about most dancing films. Of course, there are exceptions like the wonderful Japanese films, "Shall We Dance" (1996). But in general, a film devoted to a subject like the Tango is a very, very difficult sell to me. The only reason I watched it was because it was nominated for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Picture. Otherwise, I doubt if I would have ever gotten around to seeing it. So please keep this is mind as you read--I am not a dance lover.This Argentinian film is about the production of a film devoted to Tango. It is shown from the viewpoint of the director and follows his ups and downs in his personal life as well. A couple HUGE complications arise when the director falls for his main backer's girlfriend--and the backer is a mobster. And, it gets worse because he wants to make a political statement in the film and it also upsets the backers.If all this sounds really exciting, it is....if you adore Tango. As for me, I just felt bored...very, very bored. About the only really nice part of the film was some of the camera-work--the lighting and angles were lovely. Not a bad film but also not a film the average person would enjoy.

Claudio Carvalho In Buenos Aires, the director Mario Suarez (Miguel Ángel Solá) is developing and rehearsing a tango play with historical events as background. Mario misses his mate Laura Fuentes (Cecilia Narova), who has recently left him, and is recovering from a car crash with an injured leg. When the major investor Angelo Larroca (Juan Luis Galiardo) asks for an audition for his lover Elena Flores (Mía Maestro), she succeeds and participates in the play; however, Mario falls in love for her and Elena fears the dangerous Angelo.I saw "Tango" for the first time on 01 January 2001; I have just watched it again and I still believe it is one of the most wonderful tributes to the tango. Carlos Saura uses the concept that history is indestructible and recalls the dark years of military dictatorship in Argentina after the amnesty entwined with a passionate love of a middle-aged man for a young woman to build the plot, supported by stunning cast, choreography, music score and lighting. However, the conclusion is confused and disappointing, and I really do not understand the relationship of Angelo and Mario acting like pals in the last scene. Cecilia Narova and Mía Maestro are extremely beautiful and fantastic dancers, and I do not get tired of seeing them dancing tango. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "Tango"

vitis3 A little way into Saura's Tango, the main character, Mario, meets Mia Maestro. We are given the impression, or rather we are told, that Mario must be careful as her lover is a dangerous gangster. This is an attempt to create a dramatic counterpoint to Saura's exploration of different aspects of the tango myth - passion, violence, nostalgia and the mirror of the Argentine national psyche. Sadly the drama succumbs to these other intentions and the movie stumbles more or less confusingly from dance to dance. Characters hover uncomfortably between real humanity and symbolism and fail in both respects. As a consequence, the big themes are merely referred to rather than explored - and the gangster's threat fizzles. This leaves us with the music and (some of) the dancing. We are given a fair sample of tango music. Some of the best is non-dance tango music; highlights are Adriana Varela singing 'Quien hubiera dicho', Horacio Salgan playing 'A Fuego Lento' and tantalising snippets of Gardel singing 'Arrabal Amargo' and Tita Merello singing 'Se dice de mi'. There are also some fine stage tango pieces; such as the ensemble piece with the male dancers. However for me, the most compelling moment is when Carlos Nebbia (Juan Carlos Copes - why did they bother with the alias?) selects an anonymous young woman from the crowd at Confiteria Ideal and they dance to Pugliese's 'Recuerdo'. (In fact, the centrality of Copes to the movie reveals what this movie really is; an attempt to turn a Copes stage show into a movie. I suspect that this movie might have been more successful if they had stuck to that more modest intention.) However I must confess that my criticisms do lay me open to a charge of gross ingratitude. Four years ago, I knew nothing of the tango beyond the dumbest clichés. I had never heard of Pugliese or Copes or Pugliese or Gardel. Then one Sunday evening in March 2004, my wife and I watched this movie. Inspired, primarily by that 'Recuerdo', we took our first tango lesson three days later. There have been some days since when we haven't danced a tango but there cannot have been many when we didn't listen to tango music. Or read about tango. Or watched tango DVDs or YouTube clips.In sum, although I have seen many, many better movies than Carlos Saura's 'Tango', I cannot think of any other movie that has had so much impact on my life.

ruthgee The dancing in this movie was wonderful to watch. The posture of the dancers amazing. The colours magnificent. I found the tale fascinating. I believe what we watched was the film being made and the story told was what the director wanted us to see, because at the end, everyone was clapping and all were friendly.It was all make believe. The tale was not to be taken seriously, it was a play within a play.On the otherhand what happened in Argentina many years ago was true and the way the director directed this sad time was very inventive. It showed through dancing the tragic story.