Writer and director Carlos Saura (Carmen, Flamenco) has gathered a distinguished team to put this unusual film on the screen with the highest mix of art, imagination, and storytelling. To convey the passion, the exotic footwork, and the sexual undertow of the tango, he has chosen choreographers Juan Carlos Copes, Ana Maria Steckelman, and Carlos Rivarola. The original score and music direction is by Lalo Schifrin; these soundscapes move Tango along with energy and tempo. Cinematographer Vittorio Storaro makes the most of lighting on a specially constructed set in Buenos Aires.
The drama revolves around Mario Suarez (Miguel Angel Sola) who is making a film about the tango — one that conveys the important role of the dance not only in sexual politics but also in the cultural, political, and spiritual history of Argentina. Still suffering from the loss of his wife Laura (Cecilia Narova) to another man, he takes up with Elena Flores (Mia Maestro), a tango dancer who is the showpiece of Angelo Larroca (Juan Luis Galiardo), a gangster and major financier of Mario's film. A mini-drama of love and jealousy unfolds against the backdrop of the tango as a dance that is expressive of so many powerful and poignant emotions. Tango is a sense-luscious film.