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I don’t go out very often to movies, but last night was an exception. Here in Paris, from 5 to 14 March, is the 26th International Festival of “Cinéma du Réel”. one of the main themes this year is about Argentina, without doubt, there is film related to tango. Last night, I went to see a new tango documentary “The Tango Salon – La Confiteria Ideal”, one of the opening films of this festival. Made in 2003, directed by Jana Bokova, who is also a tango dancer, the film recorded pieces of life of those tangueros and tangueras who danced at the Confiteria Ideal in Buenos Aires. There are old milongeros, local dancers, tango teachers, foreigners, tango stars, aged from twenties to eighties; they tell you what tango means to them, their own tango stories about love, family, nationality etc. and how the economic crisis changed their life.
I haven’t seen any new tango documentary for long time, the last one I saw was the one made by national geographic in 1992 (long time ago), when Miguel Zotto and Milena Plebs were still dancing together. So I was excited to know there was a new tango documentary showed in Paris. I was not disappointed. It is a well-made documentary, that tango dancers can easily connect themselves with the characters in the film. You could hear ladies discussing their dances in the restroom, you could see dancers changing their shoes, talking to friends, looking for partners… those we all experienced ourselves. Apart from that, the film recorded few non-choreographed dances of some famous tango dancers, like Chicho, Javier and Geraldine, and “Puppy” Castello, they are all very impressive, I believe just these dances can already be a good reason to see this film.
 I’m looking forward to see this documentary appeared in other film festivals or even on TV, but I guess it will take some times to reach the Hong Kong audience, my tango friends in Hong Kong have to wait for a while. But for me, I will definitely go to see the second time next week, if it is not yet sold out.
The Tango Salon – La Confiteria Ideal (2003)
Jana Bokova
Argentina / Great Britain
70 mins |
