TANGO

We have long had the honor of locally premiering features by Carlos Saura – “Los Zancos” (10th CIFF, 1986) and “Ay, Carmela!” (15th CIFF, 1991). Now we have the maestro's latest blend of incendiary Spanish music and torrid drama, about an unmistakably Saura-like motion-picture director, Mario, determined to create the ultimate cinematic tribute to tango. The project sends him on a review of his own successes and setbacks, including a failed marriage to dancer Laura. Then a new woman comes into Mario's lens. It's Elena, the beautiful young mistress of Angelo, the dangerous gangster who is financing Mario's feature. Elena is also a tango artist supreme, and while choreographing her sultry moves the director falls madly for her. Jealousy and betrayal prompt Angelo and Laura to take steps of their own, as the dance onscreen becomes more than just an act. Tango expresses love and hate, life and art, the sins of the past and the hope for the future; TANGO, meanwhile, is classic Carlos Saura. Shall we dance? (In Spanish with English subtitles)