Editor: Olga Skrigin,
Olga Obradov
About every ten years, usually on a rainy Sunday afternoon, you
stumble upon some unheard of foreign film, that so touches your mind
and soul, you feel as if you're on a mission to get *everyone* you know
to see this. I'm doubly burdened with such a mission by TANGO
ARGENTINO, as there is no distributor. (North American premiere, Sun
May 2, 1993 @ San Francisco Film Festival.)
Set in that brief golden bubble of time, between the fall of
Communism in Yugoslavia, and the outbreak of the current bloody Civil
War the movie was made almost entirely in Belgrade (now in Serbia).
the film beautifully portrays the breakdown of one family, and the
wondrous creation of a new one. Director Goran Paskaljevic chose
12-year Nikola Sarkovic from over 800 boys. Their teamwork has brought
one of the year's most compelling performances to the screen. The film
was completed in Aug 92, only days before the escalation of the bloody
civil war in Serbia that now makes local creation of *any* films
impossible. This is one film (should distribution occur) that you
simply can not afford to miss viewing.
Nikola plays a gritty young capitalist-wanna be. He has far more
sense and maturity with money than either of his parents, (his
self-obsessed mother, Ina Gogalova, or philandering father, Miki
Manojlovic). While his father dreams unrealistically of building a home
based on income from being a wedding musician, Nikola dreams of getting
a pop corn machine at the race track, so his family can make "real"
money. The boy has gradually assumed many of his parent's adult
responsibilities. He helps relieve his mother, by caring for her elderly
charges, and even surreptitiously prompts his father with the right
things to say to overcome serious marital rifts based on the father's
philandering.
After his father gets a promotion in a music academy, with strings
attached, Nikola steps in to center stage to hold things together. He
must care for the three elderly charges his mother runs errands for
(she's in Bulgaria seeking a cure for the ailing sister) *and* he must
take on two new charges, relatives of his father's boss. Nikola has
already grown close to Senor Julio Popovitch (brilliantly portrayed by
former Yugo mega pop singer, Mija Aleksic.) Nikola finds a deep
friendship with the spunky old Tango singer who refuses to "give in,"
even though he's virtually bed-ridden. In the director's talk after the
screening, Paskaljevic revealed that the ailing Aleksic hadn't been
able to work for 7 years. He was only allowed to work for two to three
hours a day, with his doctor in attendance. With Life imitating Art,
this wonderful performer grew stronger and stronger as the film
progressed, and his doctor's new "prescription" is for Aleksic to make
more films!
With the company of a dog he's inherited from a recently deceased "client,"
the pragmatic Nikola decides to simultaneously baby sit all of his
elderly charges by bringing them together in a friendship club. Therein the
magic of this film begins. Like nearly dry flowers in a spring rain, these
wonderful old people "bloom" through friendship, romance, and a new-found
sense of purpose. The gift of Goran Paskaljevic's direction prevents this
from turning into sappy, sentimental sop like SMALL CHANGE. In a sense,
each of Nikola's charges finds their own "tango," or dance of life. The
film follows a path pitted with the very cul 'd sacs and dead ends that
await any of us cursed with living long enough to become a "bother" to our
adult children.
Much of the film's freshness comes from a deft script and
Zarkovic's no-nonsense portrayal of the determined twelve-year-old. Far
from being the lovable "artful dodger" type of moppet most of us were
weaned on in countless Disney films, this is a pint-sized "adult" with
a mission. He'll stop at nothing to build a stable financial base for
his family. Like many work-a-holic adults, he's become so enmeshed in
enabling others, that he's forgotten how to follow his own bliss. Only
briefly, near the end of the film, (when we see Nikola frolicking nude
on a Montenegro beach under the loving, watchful eyes of his "tango"
friend), do we see him act freely and fully as a child. While his
"real" family crumbles around him, he unknowingly brings together a
warm and nourishing "extended" family. This family will touch your
heart and stay with you a very long, long time.
Warning: you may leave the theatre wet and achey, from body
constrictions and weeping that follow the sea-like emotional swell of
this film. But you *will* leave the theatre reaffirming that, even
under the shadow of war or domestic violence, there are always a few
rare souls who can and *will* find a way to build true "family values,"
with or without their blood relations. That knowing is the film's
ultimate gift.
INFORMATION ON OBTAINING PRINT OR DISTRIBUTION RIGHTS:
(please request this film at your local Rep. Film house.)
Capitol Films
15 Portland Place, London
W1N3AA, England;
FAX: 44-71-636-6691
