The tango is the most passionate and dramatic of ballroom dances. While The Tango Lesson may be a little thin on story line, it does a lovely job of capturing the intrinsic beauty of the tango.
What we also have here is Vanity Cinema. Sally Potter is a respected director (Orlando) who stars in this film as a feminist director named Sally Potter. When she is captivated by a public performance of the tango she decides to take some lessons, which leads her to abandon the film she is working on to follow her muse to Argentina (home of the tango). There she decides to make her next film about the tango and cast her boyfriend-dance instructor Pablo Veron as the star.
Potter has a great eye. Some of the dance sequences--such as when Pablo impersonates Gene Kelly while making a salad, or when Sally, Pablo and two Argentinean brothers sweep through a warehouse in a wonderful menage à quatre--are inspirational. When the actors are dancing, the movie soars. The early stages of Potter and Veron's relationship are also interesting, because of all the sublimated passion and unspoken rapport they share.
However, as the spotlight shines on Pablo, we see him in an increasingly unflattering light. What was a childlike enthusiasm for the tango becomes a childish need for control. This helps create some tension in the film, as Potter, who wants Pablo to star in her film, confronts his chauvinism. Veron must learn to surrender control to a woman for the film to be made. But the roller coaster ride of their friendship is not particularly interesting, as Veron is not Potter's equal anywhere but on the dance floor.
Still, there is the tango, and if just for the shot of this pair dancing along the Seine I recommend you take a peek at The Tango Lesson.
