'Tango' teaches love lesson

REVIEW
	The Tango Lesson At the Michigan Theater

Of all genres of ballroom dancing, the tango is perhaps the most visually evocative and alluring. That is, of course, if the dancers can produce that effect.

In her latest film, "The Tango Lesson," Sally Potter assumes the roles of director, writer and lead actress. She plays Sally, an aging woman who fulfills her childhood dream of becoming a tango dancer; she does this under the tutelage of supreme tango dancer Pablo (Pablo Veron). Sally is unconvincing in demonstrating any natural talent, and instead, she looks like a weathered twig against the agile, free-flowing body of Pablo Veron.

"The Tango Lesson" presents many themes that aren't persuasive enough. Sally, a filmmaker living in London who refuses to submit to the Hollywood glamorization of movies, decides to take up the tango, after she experiences a mesmerizing performance by the Argentinean Pablo.

The film is then broken up into the sequential lessons given to Sally by her teacher. A relationship develops out of these frequent meetings, and we are led to believe that the love between them is kindled mostly through their dancing.

Maybe if Potter weren't so stiff and stoic, and if Pablo had showed any justifiable reason for his attraction to her character, we would be drawn into the vigor and passion of the tango. Instead, we are painfully aware that Pablo is a much better dancer than Sally, who never achieves the grace and confidence of a talented tango dancer.

Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics Lords of the dance: Pablo Veron and Sally Potter get close in "The Tango Lesson."

So what is it that draws Pablo to Sally? Maybe his pride in her admiration of him, or her pathetic-looking wistful smile that makes her look as though she's ingested one too many psychedelic drugs.

Pablo doesn't like mixing the professional with the personal, and he offers a suggestion: transfer all of their mutual emotions into their dancing.

An interesting idea, except there are two resulting glitches: first, Sally can't seem to put her lust for him into the tango, and as a result, Pablo is frustrated by her. Second, they struggle to face the unavoidable fact that they are attracted to each other, and cannot subdue their desire for one another.

The movie weakens when Pablo confesses that he feels like he has no roots as an Argentinean living in Paris with the long-forgotten traditions of his inherited religion, Judaism. This theme is loosely connected, perhaps completely unrelated, to the plot of "The Tango Lesson."

Set aside these contradictory pitfalls, and there is still plenty to appreciate about this film. The cinematography by Robby Muller is astounding, particularly in the opening scene. Sally has an extreme obsession with sterility, orderliness and cleanliness. The first shot in the film is of a stack of clean white paper and a perfectly sharpened pencil atop a spotless, stark-white table. The black-and-white scene then immediately switches to a complete opposite effect, showing the vibrant colors of the dresses of three supermodels, who are murdered by their legless publicity man. This disturbing image of Sally's idea for an upcoming film is profoundly effective, in contrast to the previous frame. Her obsessive character traits, however, are not incorporated into the rest of the movie.

Another interesting technique is used by the camera during the group tango sessions where the gliding movement of Sally from one dancer to another produces a sensual effect.

Because nearly half of "The Tango Lesson" is devoted to the visual aspect of tango dancing between Sally and Pablo, we are drawn into the seductive motions of their long, slender legs and how the partners are gracefully intertwined. In fact, some of the tango scenes are suggestively erotic, particularly when two other male dancers join in on Sally and Pablo, producing an eerie, provocative unity among them.

Potter demonstrates the capability of producing remarkably original films. If she provided some meaning into her symbolic visual effects and greater depth into character development, she could really teach Hollywood a lesson far better than any tango with Pablo.

02-09-98