“Assasination Tango”
By Joe
Donato, all rights reserved, © 2007
From what I understand, Robert Duvall made this movie
fueled by two passions: filmmaking, and Tango dancing. He stars as a man leading a double life. He’s a typical New Yorker in a relationship
with a virtuous woman, who has a daughter that he adores by day, and at night
becomes an Assasin for hire to the highest bidder. He
takes an assignment to travel to
We quickly learn that the two most defining
characteristics of this man are an extreme commitment to detail as a necessary
tool for survival, and the tendency towards fits of rage as an overreacting
hothead. Now he suddenly finds himself
stuck in Buenas Aires with nothing to do for three
weeks. And what is he to do with
volatile mix of pent up fury and paranoid perfection? You guessed it:
Tango. He discovers a
Not unlike his assassin job, the tango also demands
meticulous attention to detail, combined with the leader bearing the nature of
a carnivour on the hunt. One mistake, one area you
start slacking in, and you could lose everything. One particular scene eludes to a well-known comparison in Tango lingo: that is
the similar nature of the leader in the Tango dance to a Panther on the prowl.
Focused: driven, unapologetic and unrelenting in its pursuit of the prey.
Now I would have liked to see the movie explore this
relationship a little bit more than it did.
I would have loved to see these two traits no longer become stumbling
blocks or afflictions which so far, have only served to alienate this man from
society. I would have really liked to
see the man be able to separate himself from the assassin work, without
separating himself from these natural God-given talents, which, when focused by
a teacher’s lead, give birth to something beautiful, captivating and powerful. That would have been a great film.
Whether that is what Mr. Duvall was shooting for or whether he just wanted to
appease the female lead, his girlfriend at the time, I may never know.
Don’t get me wrong. It wasn’t THAT bad. Robert Duvall
was Robert Duvall. Reuben Blades was
Reuben Blades. And it was clear that they were definitely going for a
“non-Hollywood” feel, which can be refreshing. The
relationships with the Argentinians felt like
real-life conversations that just happened to be filmed and recorded, feeling
like a documentary at times. This is refreshing to many, and respectful of the
nature of the Tango; a dance that does not need the glitter and glare of
Dancing with the Stars.
Perhaps the filmmakers were so enchanted with the
Tango that they missed all the other elements of good filmmaking: the beautiful
landscapes of Argentina, the suspenseful moments of most gangster and spy
films, the emotional family tensions of the Godfather saga, and the high energy
of chase scenes in your typical Hollywood cops and robbers films, not to
mention things like plot and character development.
But despite all these flaws, it has one thing that no
other movie I’ve seen has: great Argentine Tango dancing; authentic,
professional, traditional Argentine Tango, done by actual Argentinians.
It beats out “Shall We Dance”, ‘Dirty Dancing”, and “Scent of a Woman” for the
Dancing quality, and it rivals that of “Strictly Ballroom”. The other thing I
love is that the dance scenes are shown uncut and unedited. Even at the very
end, as the credits roll, it is a single camera shot of two dancers, doing
their thing. From a purely aesthetic approach, the scene needs nothing
more. So you really get to appreciate the
dancing. There is no flashy cutting back and forth, fancy pans and angles, and
over-orchestrated dubbed-in soundtrack. You just sit back and watch the Tango
dancing and that is enough. The lens is
full. The composition is complete. The palate is satisfied. The movie is worth
watching for those scenes alone.
If anyone knows of any other instances of Argentine
Tango in movies, please email
me.
-Ballroom
Joe
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