Claudio Carvalho
The British filmmaker and screenwriter Sally (Sally Potter) is in Paris writing the story of models that are murdered by a serial-killer. When she sees a performance of the Argentinean tango dance Pablo (Pablo Verón), she asks Pablo to give tango lessons to her. She becomes obsessed by the dance, dancing with Pablo. Then she travels to Hollywood to have a meeting with producers that want to make her movie, but she gives up on her project. She decides to make a movie about tango casting Pablo in exchange of their partnership in the dance. "The Tango Lesson" is a little movie apparently biographical of Sally Potter for fans of dance in general and particularly the tango. The romance is developed in slow pace and practically nothing happens but good dances. My vote is six.Title (Brazil): "The Tango Lesson - Uma Lição de Tango" ("The Tango Lesson – A Tango Lesson")
Carlos
Everyone has mentioned this: the problem with "The Tango Lesson" is that it has Sally Potter all around. And Sally Potter doesn't dance badly, but her character, her persona, feels thin for a main character (surely because she tamed it down a lot, "forgetting" many of her "ugly" bits, so she feels like an unfinished creation), and can't carry the movie. It's interesting when the films feels sincere (loneliness, creation, and so on), but the thing that redeems this 100 minutes are the dance pieces, the musical parts, which for once they feel like a natural and optimistic part of the story that do not break the narration but feel part of it (like in the old MGM musicals and so on), and Pablo Verón. She has strengths; it's a pity that she didn't realize of her weaknesses.
ecuabeatinezz
The Tango Lesson was a film in which one can very much see clearly the idea of feminism. Sally is a woman who wanted to learn how to dance tango. She met a man named Pablo who taught her very much on how to dance tango. He dominated her in the sense of how she had to dance, stand, look, etc. While she learned how to dance, she was writing a play that she wanted to publish. As they both practiced on dancing they start to attach feelings for each other. A little after experiencing these feelings she questions Pablo about where exactly they stand (she seemed like she wanted more than just a friendship). He replied to her that he wanted to keep distance and not confuse the professional with the personal.After learning enough to dance in a front of a stage, Sally and Pablo perform in front of an audience. She learned enough that he felt like she was taking more control than she had to. He says that she took his liberty away and he was upset. He had to be in control of the dance and let him guide her. Not the other way around. This is the turning point of the film, she starts getting in control. Her play advances, and she chose who was in her film and she regulated what happened in her film. She is the leader now in the dances, and at the end of the film she instructed them to dance and her personality gave away as a leader.This film portrays how a woman who came from not knowing anything, to a woman who became a leader of her self. Many obstacles were in her way, such as Pablo. He had an idea of a man who had to be in control and it somewhat astonished him when he saw the changes in Sally. I recall in one scene when they are arguing he states, "Let me be in control!" Even through the norms of this society, Sally managed to be in control of her self and what she wanted.
delalovecraft
Dire. Just dire. The script is contrived, the acting painful, and the story just drags along. It is, without a doubt, a celebration of Sally Potter and little else. This wouldn't be so bad, but she's the director, writer and star of the film, and so is just self-glorification. I found myself not caring about the developing romance between the principal two characters, and the ending came not a moment too soon. It has two redeeming features. First is that a lot of the shots are really quite lovely, particularly in Paris, and look rather good in black and white. Secondly, whether you're a fan of tango or not, the music is by and large, excellent (except where Sally starts singing). Watch this film at your own risk, or if you need an unintentional laugh. I am sure it appeals to someone. Statistically, it has to.
AD
