Film Review

By Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat

The Tango Lesson
Directed by Sally Potter
Columbia TriStar 11/97 DVD/VHS Feature Film
PG

In The Tango Lesson writer and director Sally Potter (Orlando) stars as a filmmaker who, looking for a diversion from her work, plunges into an obsession that consumes her mind, body, and soul. Sally attends a tango concert in Paris and is mesmerized by an Argentinian dancer, Pablo Veron. She begins to take lessons from him and soon falls in love with the tango and its intricate essence of control and passion. Her admiration for Pablo's grace and improvisational dance skills carries her into a love affair. In this relationship, they are forced to come to terms with an alternating current of domination and submission. Who will lead and who will follow? Pablo dances with Sally in a public performance, and she reciprocates by starting a documentary featuring him in Buenos Aires.

The Tango Lesson continues Sally Potter's exploration of male and female identity and the sexual politics involved in all creative expression. For tango devotees this film offers plenty of enchanting moments.

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by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat