User reviews

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"

I absolutely love this film. I am not a huge fan of dance movies or musicals, but this creation is superb. The music, the dancing, and of course, the women are all beautiful.

Saura melds fiction & reality with all the skill he has shown in previous films, & Storaro's cinematography is, as usual, stunning. I purchased a DVD copy as soon as it became available & I have found the extras & the commentaries to be both informative & entertaining.

For anyone who loves; beautiful filming making, passionate dancing or erotic women, this film will fill all those needs. Buenos Aires, here I come!

There's a scene in "Some Like it Hot" in which Jack Lemmon dances a tango with Joe E. Brown. The tune is a famous one, La Cumparasita or something like that, turned into an American pop song in the 1950s with English lyrics and named "Strange Sensations." Anyway, the dance is played for laughs. Well, it's understandable. The conventions of the tango seem so automated to someone used to other forms. But what surprised me here was the flexibility of the form, the way it is adapted to circumstances. There is, of course, a number here in which two or three dancers express intense passion, the emotion we usually associate with the tango. But there is also a number that is informed by humor. Suarez, who is about to direct a show featuring the tango, native to Argentina, is alone in his studio, talking to himself about the folly of falling in love, and he imagines a scene in which the silhouettes of two dancers perform a comic number, waggling their bottoms at the camera, the music bumping along in the background featuring a few strings and a flatulating tuba, itself an amusing instrument in sound and appearance.

Thank you for that tuba, Lalo Schifrin. As an Hispanic himself, Schifrin knows what he's doing. (He makes good use of the bandoneon, a kind of concertina, too.) There is a less-successful number that uses boots and military uniforms in an evocation of the period in the 1970s and 1980s when citizens of Argentina were "disappeared." There are tango-tinged encounters between men and others involving women, that are homosexual in effect. And sometimes there is no music behind the dances at all -- only the natural sounds of clothing rustling and soles squeaking on the wooden floor as the performers twist and turn.

Let me get back to that homosexual dance between the two women. One of them, if I got it right, is Suarez's ex wife, a superb dancer played by Cecilia Narova. The younger one is played by Mia Maestro. The dance ends with a sensuous kiss, and I can understand why another woman might want to kiss Maestro. I could understand it even if some twisted extraterrestrial whose native notion of esthetic perfection looked like the inside of an alarm clock wanted to kiss Maestro. She is egregiously beautiful, two-thirds Diane Venora and one third Audrey Hepburn, and sports what must be, even to the most jaded eye, a nearly perfect body whose movements are entirely under her own control. Her high kicks beat those of Eleanor Powell. And when her numbers freeze in tableaux, it would be perfectly okay if she just retained those balletic poses for, oh, say five or six minutes so we can burn the images into our brains. I don't think the human form and the suppleness of which it is capable has ever been displayed more elegantly. Not to put down Fred and Ginger. That's a different ballroom game.

The Spanish as spoken is appropriately Argentinian too, for what it's worth. The pronunciation is regional and so is the grammar. I say this out of complete ignorance of the language except for that which comparative linguists tell us. And a chat buddy in Buenos Aires. (Besos a vos, mi compaera).

The plot is nothing much. Abstract and arty and colorful. Saura's 8 1/2. Suarez, the benign director of a musical show, falls for Maestro. She is living with a Mafioso who is a dangerous dude, sub specie aeternitatus. But she tells the Mafioso off anyway and stalks off as he shouts after her -- "You're making a big mistake." If it did turn out to be a mistake we don't learn about it. The movie ends happily if trickily.

I want to emphasize that the dances are just about everything here. They bear about the same relationship to Lemon and Brown's tango as Fred and Ginger's superbly rehearsed dances do to the twist. There is one number by Maestro in which she does nothing but walk around slowly and strike an occasional pose. It's stunning in it simplicity and sensuousness. And in the duets, the dancers hold each other so close through so many acrobatic movements that, without stretching too much, I can imagine one false step bringing them tumbling to the floor wrapped up in each other.

The photography and lighting (by Vittorio Storaro) is superlative and the art direction equally so. Everything takes place in a carefully designed studio with mirrors and stages and painted backdrops scattered around. Sometimes we don't know if we're looking into a mirror or seeing the "real" scene. Nor can we always be sure that what we're watching is taking place in "real" life or in Suarez's imagination -- sometimes the imaginary turns into the real. But none of this detracts from our understanding of the film. The "double" structure is not simple directorial self display, nor is it just more hokum about "what's reality and what's illusion?". It adds visual texture to a film that already has more than a dozen Hollywood monstrosities could hold. It's really art, without quotation marks around it.

Tango may well be the greatest dance movie ever made. Its stunning dance sequences, relentless tango music (orchestrated by Lalo Schiffrin)and throbbing sexuality place this film in a class by itself. There simply has never been anything like it. And, if you have any male hormones left and do not fall immediately head over heels in love with Mia Maestro than something is definitely wrong with you. She is what Audrey Hepburn might have been had Miss Hepburn been Latin and had a spectacular dancer's figure. But the entire cast is wonderful and the lighting and color are explosive. Go see it, then take the next plane to Buenos Aires. I did.

It's not often that I will give a film a perfect review, I'm just too picky. And let's face it, there aren't many movies being made nowadays that even approach perfection. I have just had the pleasure of seeing one such film. Director Carlos Saura and cinematographer Vittorio Storaro have again collaborated on a masterpiece. Similar to their last joint effort 'Flamenco', 'Tango' is both an examination of the music and dance of the tango and, more importantly, it's role as a reflection of the human condition. Saura and Storaro have gathered these elements and taken them, and the audience, one step further. Through skillful choreography, the camera weaves it's way through a maze of mirrors, lights, projected images and some of the world's best tango artists. The audience becomes a willing dance partner with their breathtaking eye and find themselves swept into their passionate vision.

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.

Tango, the most sensual dance in the world, is one of the hardest things to capture by people that haven't experienced it first hand, as seems to be the case with the distinguished Spanish director, Carlos Saura. This 1998 film, in spite of its best intentions, feels flat, even to the unexperienced eye.

To make matters worse, Carlos Saura wrote a screen play that feels empty. Not even some of the inspired dance numbers lift this movie from the plot the director wrote. The story behind the film seems false from the start. It doesn't help that most of it seems superficial and contrived. The way the film was filmed, feels claustrophobic since it all takes place in as studio set. The film would have been more enjoyable if Mr. Saura had opened the film and brought it out to the districts of Buenos Aires where the tango reigns supreme.

Miguel Angel Sola, a good actor from Argentina, is seen as Mario, Mr. Saura's alter ego, perhaps, since he plays the director of the film going to production. Cecilia Narova, Mia Maestro, Sandra Ballesteros, Juan Luis Galiardo are seen in supporting roles. Juan Carlos Copes, a great dancer of the tango is seen in the film, as well as Julio Bocca, one of the best classical dancers from that country.

My, what a delight for the senses. TANGO has it all: imagination, consonance, balance, choreographical beauty, cinematic creativity, and...the Tango. The dance is beautiful. The music complements the visual magnificence of the film. Although the MATRIX crowd will find it less than stimulating, those with a more artistic appreciation for the nature of things will find it quite beautiful.

Carlos Saura, from Huesca in the north of Aragón, would seem to be bent on emulating Luis Buñuel, who was from Teruel in the south of Aragón. If we add that Francisco de Goya was also Aragonese and the singer Miguel Fleta also hailed from the Pyrenean province of Huesca, it should be clear that this region has produced some artistically important people, not forgetting historical personages like Catherine of Aragón who had her head lopped off in the court of Henry VIII.

The Buñuel-Saura tandem has produced some magnificent cinema, and it is Buñuel's surrealism which Saura frequently echoes, albeit using more modern techniques and technology. Whereas his films `Goya en Burdeos' (1999) and `Pajarico' (1997) (qv) have evidently more tangible story-lines to follow, `Sevillanas' (1992) (qv), `Marathon' (1992) and `Flamenco' (1995) are more documental, but not lacking in cinematographic effects by such geniuses as Vittorio Storaro and Javier Aguirresarobe. However, in Tango the matter becomes more complicated, as, supposedly, anyway, there is, or so we are to understand, a story-line to follow. The story is not clear: perhaps it was Saura's intention that each one of us should make up our own story! Better forget the story, whatever it might be, and concentrate on the visual aspects, as they are stunning. Firstly it is a kind of investigation into the art and philosophy of the afamed Argentinian Tango; secondly it an interesting musical appreciation, as most certainly Lalo Schifrin has done his homework, and the music that is not his – and there is quite a lot – has been wisely chosen, including even an extract from Verdi; thirdly the camerawork is of the finest to be seen. Storaro has played with luminosity, playing orange against yellow, magenta against purple, as well as using reflections in mirrors and glass panelling to tremendous effect.

In `Tango' Saura once again used music, as in `Sevillanas', `Flamenco' and to a certain degree in `Marathon' as the vehicle for transporting his visual concepts. The result in `Tango' as well as in `Marathon', is quite extraordinary, captivating, and, whether you are a great enthusiast of sevillanas, flamenco or tango or not – I am not – you cannot help but being satisfied by the result, though perhaps not so much in `Sevillanas' as it is a rather overhurried cursory glimpse at a subject matter which should have deserved more time.

While so many have commented on the superlative dancing and the spectacular use of color, this film is not solely about dance. As he did in "Carmen", Carlos Saura invites us into a beautifully crafted melange of realism, impressionism, and surrealism to express the human emotions of love, betrayal, jealousy, fear and redemption. His melange results in a film that is an enigma wrapped in the sensuality, color and passion of a tensive tango that expresses his horror at the atrocities of Argentina's "Dirty War". This film is as much a political statement as it is a well-crafted masterpiece of cinematic art, color and music. In "Carmen" we never know when Antonio's real relationship with Carmen ends and the flamenco drama begins. So too, in "Tango", Saura sucks us into a reality carefully created to deceive us while at the same time it teaches us in colorful shades the subtle and sometimes unnoticeable differences between illusion and reality. Until the end of the film the viewer actually believes that Mario has lost Laura and found himself again in his love for Elena, who he suspects will be murdered by one of LaRocca's henchmen. Saura films the scenes with Elena and Mario at the restaurant and in the bedroom in a colorless reality that assures us that this is a real relationship. Thanks to set designer, Waldo Norman (Ricardo Mourelle), Mario is able to travel between time and space through color, particularly shades of red, giving the dream sequence in which he kills Laura a surreal affect. The devils of Mario's surrealistic subconscious are exorcised again in the graphic choreography of the torture and rape scenes depicting the "Dirty War" against liberals, students, artists, union workers, and intellectuals. In their acrobatic bends, twists and rolls, the dancers give us the impression of intense pain at the hands of their cruel torturers. Perhaps this surreal dance is the only way that Mario, and Saura, can deal with the horrific atrocities inflicted on the thousands of Argentine "desaparecidos" (the disappeared ones) from 1976 – 1983. Mario says as much in the bedroom scene with Elena. While holding her in his arms, Mario states that imagination is the only guardrail that keeps us from plummeting into the depths of horror and atrocity. It is after this scene that the "Repression Tango", Saura's balletic version of the horrors of the "Dirty War" takes place. Having experienced a choreographed impression of Hell, the viewer is jolted back to reality in the end, when Elena awakens from death to ask if she had played the scene of her murder well. The lights are on and the stage is bustling with actors and stage techs. Mario with his arms around Elena seemingly incredulous at her resurrection, realizes that he too for a moment was sucked into the artist's illusion, but now stands redeemed through art in a reality free of his inner-most demons.

I writing this review as much for people who watched this movie already as for people interested in watching it: this is not a movie about tango.

This is, first of all, a movie about the making of a show. Many people seem to let this information escape, but we're subtlety informed about this from the very beginning. We're presented with the long process that goes in the head and daily work of director Mario. It's somehow a lesson of direction.

Second to this, the show being made is about Argentinian life. It's a story of birth, passion, illusion, violence, betrayal, forgiveness and rebirth. And it's a very dense and beautiful story.

And how is this story shown to us? It's shown by the way of tango, which then takes the central part of the movie.

Having told that, now I hope you may let yourself being involved by this movie and watch it differently. And that you really enjoy the masterful work Saura has done to give you this absolutely beautiful movie. His direction of camera, light, music and actors is simply stunning. I truly believe this movie puts him side-by-side with the great ones like Kurosawa or Kubrick.

"Tango" is an artistically ravishing kaleidoscope of music, dance, and drama from Argentina. The film features seemingly every possible interpretation of Tango, indigenous orchestrations, brilliantly colorful sets, all interconnected by a thin story. Lovers of art and especially interpretive dance will enjoy "Tango" most. Those expecting conventional drama or musical drama will likely be disappointed.

A Tango dancers view on the movie: Nothing against Saura. Carmen and Flamenco are excellent dance movies (where the latter rather is a documentary, but a good one). However, with this movie Saura shows that he knows nothing about the Tango - much in contrast to Sally Potter with her inside view on the Tango culture "The Tango Lesson". Even his choice of choreographers reflects this ignorance.

Thus, the movie is a collection of nicely photographed cliches. Most dancing is rather artificial, the story is weak and boring, and the original music by Schifrin is a bad copy of Piazzolla.

The spirit tries to get out all the senses that invade your soul, your body, your mind through an artistical manifestation. Once after seem this film you probably love the tangos or hate it, but you will discover in each song a magic instant full of color, of meaning and sense. Each step is impulsed by a fresh wind of change and nostalgia. A notable example of love to our ideals and passions, to our own way to be. A remarkable film.

This movie is one filled with rich artistic value as it contains much dancing and very elegant stage setups. The storyline is one filled with romance and lustfulness which revolves around the main character, his ex-girlfriend, and a young dancer. Therefore, if a viewer is not interested in such aspects, the movie is kind of slow. However, there is reason to recognize the beauty and creativity of many of the scenes in which elegant and complex dances are demonstrated in differently colored and arranged stages. On another note, at times it was a bit confusing to recognize whether a scene was portraying what was going on in the main character's mind or if indeed it was part of the story. In the end however, it felt as if there was no real need to distinguish these scenes as it was all so scattered and spontaneous.

This is the kind of film that reminds you what a powerful art medium film can be. In this story of a director putting together a dance musical, Saura creates a complex and fascinating narrative where the political and the personal intersect, all enveloped in a context of dancing and music that is stunning. It is not an easy film, but great art often isn't.

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.

Much like his flamenco films, Carlos Saura blends reality and fantasy in this story of a film director trying to make a musical, and torn between two women he can't have. Definite shades of 8 1/2 here, with a little bit ALL THAT JAZZ, although I'm not sure if any of it is Saura speaking autobiographically. He is a master at filming dance, though, and he captures all the graceful physicality in exciting ways. And with Storaro on hand, the movie explodes with vivid colors and dazzling lights. Not all of it is great (as in All That Jazz, I didn't care for the same number that the financiers didn't care for) but it's mostly very captivating and intriguing. Great dance, great music.

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.

Color-wise, this is one of the more stunning films I've ever seen. I only saw it on tape; on DVD this mus really look super. Storywise, however, it's one of the most boring films I've ever watched. What a shame.

After 40 minutes of Tango dance numbers and an absolutely nothing story, it begins to really drag and an hour later, it was no better.

Not only does this feature beautiful colors but the choreography of the dances is inventive, too, but only to point. It just goes on too long, way too long. The story is nothing but a director of this tango show falling for one of dancers - that's it, nothing more!

The film is mainly a vehicle for director Carlos Suara's colorful work to be shown off.

This is a visually stunning film which is a reflection on Argentina and its history, film-making, the connections between the past and the future, and of course Argentina's great tradition of dance. To bring it all together and make it personal, the through-line concerns a film director's budding romance with a young dancer he has discovered following his traumatic split with a legendary dancer. But that's one element of the film only, and not necessarily its most important element. The film tells us of Argentine history, the prevalence, and even the reemergence of its archetypal themes through the generations, romance, passion, freedom, repression, violence, hope--all told in the language of the tango.

The cinematography is first-rate, the overlapping narrative elements (the love story, the story of film-making and its struggles, the story of Argentina in the 20th century, and the story of dance itself) is engaging. But the real reason to see this film is the dancing, which is quite simply stunning. Among the cast are dancers legendary not only in Argentina, but across the world. Mia Maestro, who plays the young up-and-coming dancer, has the exhilarating but probably terrifying job of dancing among all these professionals. While her own dance training is not as extensive as the men and women she dances with, however, she does a really wonderful job in her own dancing scenes--and only someone with significant dance experience will be able to spot the differences between her and the professional dancers.

In some ways, though, even these differences make sense in the context of the story. Elena is the young dancer, and part of the drama that Saura presents is her own evolution in the tango. As she learns more, she becomes more alive to her history and her identity. Her dancing deepens throughout the film.

And if you don't want to learn to dance the Argentine tango after you have seen this film, then you have no soul. Many thumbs up!

Tango is the second of only two movies I've ever walked out on. To my credit, I managed to stay until almost the end, as I kept hoping that something, anything, would actually happen in this film. The dancing is beautiful and emotional, but there are only so many double-hooks one can take in the span of two hours, when, literally, nothing else happens except the main character looks droopy-eyed at the camera. The director does some really cool things with mirrors, screens and silhouettes, but this is self-indulgent film making at its best. Give me a story! Give me some emotion! Give me some character development! I kept thinking that the film could use some editing -- excessively long dance sequences, and one five-minute take of musicians recording tango music, I get the point, already! -- but then it would be only twenty minutes long.

If you like dancing in general,this film is for you. Carlos Saura tries to present the art of filming with all the necessary procedure in a tango atmosphere. Argentinian nostalgia in a plot where Mario,the director(after being left by Laura)will fall in love with the first in-line ballerina,Elena who is pursued by a rich gangster. The rest of the movie is a set of lessons on tango with all the fast changes in pace,watching the feet in a complicated backup of the relevant music.Symbolism takes precedence in this movie by the insertion of inanimate objects like the camera or the rehearsal chairs.A hymn to cinema,dance and their relation to life.