All of Gardel's films are flimsy star vehicles, but they are well-made, light and pleasant, despite extremely deteriorated video quality. One wonders what happened to the original celluloid. The videos are available through special orders. GARDEL'S MEMORY MUST BE PRESERVED!!! He is one of a kind. Hollywood never had such a star, a mixture of Valentino and Mozart.
A lot of mystery surrounds his life: Was he really born in France? His mother speaks after his tragic death, without a trace of French accent. Gardel himself says a few French words in a film without a trace of French accent. It is illogical that Gardel wouldn't be fluent in French, given his mother's purported origin.
And did Gardel really write those unbelievably beautiful songs? There is apparently no footage of him really playing any instrument. The songs suggest great familiarity with the piano and great whistling facility. They are whistling songs in the sense that they need no accompaniment, no harmonic underpinnings to be effective. They can be sung a capella. I know, I'm a tunesmith. My extensive familiarity with all kinds of music, particularly classical, leads me to conclude that Gardel, or whoever wrote those songs, is a genius of the first order. Many a classical composer's best tunes cannot compare with unbelievably ravishing melodies like "Cuesta Abajo" or even "Por una cabeza", which express not only incredibly charm, wit and grace, but greatness of soul and heart, a nobility out of this world.
One doesn't need to speak Spanish to appreciate this music, but it sure helps, because the lyrics are works of art in themselves, highly eloquent comments on life. One concept that must be banished, is that tango is some kind of salacious, sexy dance music. At its best it is as classical as a Schubert song.
