A modern master at capturing the energy and beauty of dance on film, Spanish writer-director Carlos Saura ("Carmen", "Flamenco") has created a cinematic tribute to the tango in this beautifully made, long-but-captivating movie about love and creativity. With an often intoxicatingly sensual Latin American passion and an excellent cast, "Tango" may not be everybody's cup of tea, but it's a marvelous gift in what has turned out to be a relatively strong year for foreign-language films released domestically.
One of the few unabashedly entertaining festival films unveiled at Cannes this year, "Tango" opens today for an exclusive run at Laemmle's Sunset 5, with distributor Sony Pictures Classics planning to roll it out nationally in February. More destined to be discovered willy-nilly by dedicated cineastes than storming cineplexes, the widescreen "Tango" will surely gather many appreciative fans over time.
If one is expecting an unchallenging backstage romantic drama with great dancing sequences, "Tango" obliges, although the story of filmmaker-theater director-performer Mario (Miguel Angel Sola) and his affair with promising young dancer Elena (Mia Maestro) is not frivolous. The latter is the mistress of a gangster Juan Luis Galiardo) who invests in Mario's projects with the condition that he audition Elena.
In a growing rivalry that thankfully is not taken to extremes but skillfully sketched out like most of the nondancing scenes, Mario's ex-wife Laura (Cecilia Narova) is jealous of Elena's swift rise to prominence. The gangster, meanwhile, threatens but then backs off when Mario and Elena fall in love and don't hide it.
Gaging perfectly one's attention span and seemingly boasting an inexhaustible supply of incredible tango sequences, Saura and his collaborators dazzle with intricate production numbers, where the camera draws the viewer into the colorful, kinetic action, building up to a very serious but impressionistic number about the political turmoil in 1970s-80s Argentina.
Throughout the film -- which has a super musical score by Lalo Schifrin -- Saura and cinematographer Vittorio Storaro ("The Last Emperor") constantly surprise and almost overwhelm with the stunning visuals.
TANGO
Sony Pictures Classics
Pandora Cinema presents
An Argentina Sono Film &
Alma Ata International Pictures co-production
In association with Terraplen Producciones,
Astro Abio Producciones, Adela Pictures,
Beco Films, Hollywood Partners and Saura Films
Writer-director: Carlos Saura
Producers: Luis A. Scalella, Carlos A. Mentasi, Juan Codazzi
Director of photography: Vittorio Storaro
Production designer: Emilio Basaldua
Editor: Julia Juaniz
Music: Lalo Schifrin
Color/stereo
Cast:
Mario: Miguel Angel Sola
Laura: Cecilia Narova
Elena: Mia Maestro
Carlos: Juan Carlos Copes
Ernesto: Carlos Rivarola
Angelo: Juan Luis Galiardo
Running time -- 115 minutes
MPAA rating: PG...
One of the few unabashedly entertaining festival films unveiled at Cannes this year, "Tango" opens today for an exclusive run at Laemmle's Sunset 5, with distributor Sony Pictures Classics planning to roll it out nationally in February. More destined to be discovered willy-nilly by dedicated cineastes than storming cineplexes, the widescreen "Tango" will surely gather many appreciative fans over time.
If one is expecting an unchallenging backstage romantic drama with great dancing sequences, "Tango" obliges, although the story of filmmaker-theater director-performer Mario (Miguel Angel Sola) and his affair with promising young dancer Elena (Mia Maestro) is not frivolous. The latter is the mistress of a gangster Juan Luis Galiardo) who invests in Mario's projects with the condition that he audition Elena.
In a growing rivalry that thankfully is not taken to extremes but skillfully sketched out like most of the nondancing scenes, Mario's ex-wife Laura (Cecilia Narova) is jealous of Elena's swift rise to prominence. The gangster, meanwhile, threatens but then backs off when Mario and Elena fall in love and don't hide it.
Gaging perfectly one's attention span and seemingly boasting an inexhaustible supply of incredible tango sequences, Saura and his collaborators dazzle with intricate production numbers, where the camera draws the viewer into the colorful, kinetic action, building up to a very serious but impressionistic number about the political turmoil in 1970s-80s Argentina.
Throughout the film -- which has a super musical score by Lalo Schifrin -- Saura and cinematographer Vittorio Storaro ("The Last Emperor") constantly surprise and almost overwhelm with the stunning visuals.
TANGO
Sony Pictures Classics
Pandora Cinema presents
An Argentina Sono Film &
Alma Ata International Pictures co-production
In association with Terraplen Producciones,
Astro Abio Producciones, Adela Pictures,
Beco Films, Hollywood Partners and Saura Films
Writer-director: Carlos Saura
Producers: Luis A. Scalella, Carlos A. Mentasi, Juan Codazzi
Director of photography: Vittorio Storaro
Production designer: Emilio Basaldua
Editor: Julia Juaniz
Music: Lalo Schifrin
Color/stereo
Cast:
Mario: Miguel Angel Sola
Laura: Cecilia Narova
Elena: Mia Maestro
Carlos: Juan Carlos Copes
Ernesto: Carlos Rivarola
Angelo: Juan Luis Galiardo
Running time -- 115 minutes
MPAA rating: PG...
- 12/16/1998
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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