THE TANGO LESSON

'''The Tango Lesson''' (Spanish: '''La Lección de Tango''') is a 1997 film by British director Sally Potter.^[1]
It is a semi-autobiographical film starring Potter and Pablo Verón, about Argentinian Tango.
The film, a co-production of Argentina, France, Germany, Netherlands and the United Kingdom, was produced by Christopher Sheppard in Britain, and Óscar Kramer in Argentina.
The film was shot mostly in black and white in Paris and Buenos Aires. The soundtrack includes Ástor Piazzolla's "Libertango."

Contents

Plot

Exhibition

Exhibition dates

Critical reception

Cast and ratings

Awards

Footnotes

External links

Plot

The film tells of Sally (Sally Potter) a filmmaker and screenwriter who is suffering from writer's block. She's also dissatisfied with her film project, a murder mystery movie called "Rage" which focuses on the fashion industry.
She takes a break and travels to Paris, where she sees the dancer Pablo (Pablo Veron) perform the tango.
She becomes obsessed with the dance and offers Pablo a part in her film in exchange for dance lessons.
The two become deeply involved as dancers and as lovers, and their emotional intimacy threatens the success of their dancing together.
The film explores the conflict between the woman dancer accepting the man's lead in the dance, while the man must accept the woman's lead in the film.
It is also a love story, as well as a showcase for Veron's dancing.

Exhibition

The film was first presented at the Venice Film Festival in Italy on August 29, 1997. One week later it was screened at the Toronto Film Festival in Canada on September 8, 1997.
The picture screened at various film festivals, including: the Mar del Plata Film Festival, Argentina; the Reykjavik Film Festival, Iceland; the Istanbul Film Festival, Turkey; and others.

Exhibition dates

★ Argentina: November 20, 1997

★ Australia: November 26, 1998

★ France: April 8, 1998

★ Germany: October 9, 1997

★ Netherlands: January 15, 1998

★ United Kingdom: November 28, 1997

★ United States: November 14, 1997

Critical reception

The film received mixed reviews from film critics.
Janet Maslin thougt the film was rather simple. She said, "Stiffly playing a filmmaker with a growing passion for the tango, [Sally Potter] makes this a handsome, drily meticulous film with no real fire anywhere beyond its supple dance scenes. The lessons are numbered and catalogued with an obsessive care like that of Peter Greenaway, but this material has little of his corresponding complexity."^[2]

Cast and ratings

★ Sally Potter as Sally

★ Pablo Verón as Pablo

★ Morgane Maugran as Red Model

★ Géraldine Maillet as Yellow Model

★ Katerina Mechera as Blue Model

★ David Toole as Fashion Designer

★ George Yiasoumi as Photographer

★ Michele Parent as Seamstress

★ Claudine Mavros as Seamstress

★ Monique Couturier as Seamstress

★ Matthew Hawkins as Bodyguard

★ Simon Worgan as Bodyguard

★ Carolina Iotti as Pablo's partner

Awards

'Wins'

★ Mar del Plata Film Festival: Best Film, Sally Potter; 1997.

★ American Choreography Awards, USA: American Choreography Award Outstanding Achievement in Feature Film, Pablo Verón; 1998.
'Nominations'

★ BAFTA Awards: BAFTA Film Award; Best Film not in the English Language; 1998.

Footnotes

1. {{imdb title|id=0120275|title=
2. Maslin, Janet. ''The New York Times'', film review, "Filmmaker Falls for The Tango In Paris," November 14, 1997.

External links

★ ''The Tango Lesson'' at the cinenacional.com .