The Tango Lesson (1997)

A scriptwriter comes to Paris to work on her film. There she takes up tango lessons and forms a relationship with the dancer.

Director:

Sally Potter

Writer:

Sally Potter

Stars:

Sally Potter, Pablo Verón, Morgane Maugran

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 3 wins.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sally Potter	...	Sally
Morgane Maugran	...	Red Model
Géraldine Maillet	...	Yellow Model
Katerina Mechera	...	Blue Model
David Toole	...	Fashion Designer
George Antoni	...	Photographer (as George Yiasoumi)
Michele Parent	...	Seamstress
Claudine Mavros	...	Seamstress
Monique Couturier	...	Seamstress
Matthew Hawkins	...	Bodyguard
Simon Worgan	...	Bodyguard
Pablo Verón	...	Pablo
Carolina Iotti	...	Pablo's partner
Zobeida	...	Pablo's Friend
Orazio Massaro	...	Pablo's Friend

Storyline

On a trip to Paris Sally meets Pablo, a tango dancer. He starts teaching her to dance then she returns to London to work on some "projects". She visits Buenos Aires and learns more from Pablo's friends. Sally & Pablo meet again but this time their relationship changes, she realises they want different things from each other. On a trip to Buenos Aires they cement their friendship.

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Plot Keywords:

tango | dance | model | filmmaker | dancing | 

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Genres:

Drama | Music | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for brief language and some violent images

Details

Official Sites:

Id Distribution Official site powered by infoCINE

Country:

UK France Argentina Germany Netherlands USA

Language:

English French Spanish

Release Date:

14 November 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

La lección de tango

Filming Locations:

Buenos Aires, Federal District, Argentina

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$19,752, 16 November 1997

Gross USA:

$1,080,192

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$1,080,192

Company Credits

Production Co:

Adventure Pictures, Adventure Films, Arts Council of England

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the bathtub scene, she is reading "I and Thou" by philosopher Martin Buber.

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Quotes

Sally: How did you choose the tango?
Pablo: I didn't. The tango chose me.

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Connections

Featured in At the Movies: The Jackal/Anastasia/The Man Who Knew Too Little/One Night Stand/The Tango Lesson/Kiss or Kill (1997)

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Soundtracks

I Am You
Composed By Homero Manzi, Sebastián Piana
Vocals, Lyrics By Sally Potter
Performers:
Bandoneon by Néstor Marconi
Cello by Yo-Yo Ma
Guitar: Horacio Malviccino
Piano: Leonardo D. Marconi
Violin: Antonio Agri

User Reviews

Chess for the feet ... but not much for the brain

`Tango is like chess for your feet' Sally Potter claimed during the publicity for this, a film that she wrote, directed, and starred in as a tango dancing director called - strangely enough - Sally. Like the screen Sally, the real Potter also learned from Pablo Veron, also her co-star. If only the film was as cogent and searching as her intelligent definititon of a fascinating dance!

As a keen tango dancer myself, I was eager to see the committed to celluloid the intricacies of a dance which is part improvisational game, part physical conversation, and as much an exercise for the mind as for the body. A lot of work goes into becoming an excellent and effortless `tanguista', and there is much more to tango than most people realise.

Turning her story into a roman a clef, does not make it experimental or postmodern, as appears to have be intended, but in fact regresses to the self-referential musicals of yesteryear such as `Singing in the Rain'. As long as there has been art, there has been art about art, and art about creative blocks. Though such an approach can create masterpieces (such as Fellini's 8 1/2), it can also create ponderous excuses for not creating original art.

Worse still, it can come off as an act of monstrous narcissism. Potter is a stunning dancer, and it is understandable that she wished to play the main role on that count, but in all other respects she is merely adequate (and her singing, in the final scene, quite inadequate). Potter berates Veron in the film for not trusting her to be lead by him; by not trusting another actor to play her part, Potter is doing exactly the same thing.

Thus the film plays out like a rather dull overheard conversation that one might idly listen to on the bus but not miss once you reached your stop. Tango is a dance in which the female must follow unquestioningly, adding little of her own input, occasionally stepping back to let the alpha male shine. The tensions that this has with a woman who is a film director and feminist, used to leading and guiding, rebelling against traditional roles of male and female, might have been fascinating. Instead, it all seems a playful act of revenge against Pablo: in film, she gets to lead, not him.

Though tantalising ideas leap out from time to time (the influence the tango had on her creativity is something touched upon but unfortunately not explored), and as always her visuals are sumptuous, I found the film a disappointment overall.