Tango may well be the greatest dance movie ever made. Its stunning dance sequences, relentless tango music (orchestrated by Lalo Schiffrin)and throbbing sexuality place this film in a class by itself. There simply has never been anything like it. And, if you have any male hormones left and do not fall immediately head over heels in love with Mia Maestro than something is definitely wrong with you. She is what Audrey Hepburn might have been had Miss Hepburn been Latin and had a spectacular dancer's figure. But the entire cast is wonderful and the lighting and color are explosive. Go see it, then take the next plane to Buenos Aires. I did.

Tango deals with the different ways that people deal with the ending of romantic relationships. It shows that there is always something worth living for and that life goes on even though it may seem at times that there is nothing left to live for.

(spoilers) This film was all one man's story of how he dealt with having a broken heart, and how he recovered. It is an autobiography by Mario, the main character, who tells the story himself, which is made clear in the first few minutes of the film. Mario returns to find Laura, his ex, getting the last of her things, and he begs her to come back to him but she is happy living with another man. The dancing scenes in the film seem to show a way that Mario tries to escape from his emotions, but it backfires because he sees Laura there dancing with the man that she left him for. Whenever he sees her, everything else that is going on in the movie stops abruptly. There is nothing but the music, the dancing, and Mario's mesmerized stare. He seems to be in a trance every time he sees her, and he even has murderous visions. His mind seems to be so choked with emotional turmoil that he cannot function when he is in her presence, he is absolutely captivated by her.

When Mario finally meets another woman, it is a result of her dancing ability. In fact, the first thing that is spoken of her in the film is about her exceptional dancing skill. This is very effective because from this point on, she is seen as being superior to all of the other women, and she is focused on when she is in a large group, which makes Mario's romance with her more moving. She represents a new beginning for Mario, and she makes him forget about Laura, which is all he seems to want up to this point in the film.

There was one very quick scene worth noting because it is an exact example of what the film is about. Mario is at a dancing school where there is a classroom of young students learning to tango, and he is speaking with an elderly man. The man tells him that his wife recently passed away, and his life no longer has any meaning, he has nothing left. As soon as he finishes saying this, he looks across the room and his face breaks into a wide grin as he points his granddaughter out to Mario, claiming her to be the `best in the class.' This is a perfect example of the meaning of this movie! The moment after this man tells Mario that his life is meaningless because his wife passed away, he lovingly boasts the dancing skill of his granddaughter. His life obviously still has meaning because, even though his wife is gone, he can still watch this girl grow as both a person as well as a dancer. I hope Mario noticed this man's glaring miscalculation of the importance of his own being.

The surprisingly ironic ending of the film represented the fact that life goes on, and also that sometimes it is really necessary to end some relationships in order to be happy, even if it seems like the end of the world. Mario is very happy with this woman that he met, but in order for her to be with him, she had to break a man's heart just the same way as Laura had broken his. That man's heart was broken the very same way that Mario's was broken at the beginning of the film, which is very ironic because this man is in the exact same position that Mario was in after Laura left him earlier in the movie.

The title of this film refers not to a particular style of dancing, but to the emotional tango that people can dance with each other. Even though dancing is abundant throughout the film, it's not actually ABOUT dancing. However, the dancing did tie everything in the film together.

Another element that is particularly interesting is the way the camera is used. This is the first film I have ever seen that actually seemed to give the camera itself a bit of personality. In the second half of the film, the director did not seem to make the slightest effort to avoid filming the camera's reflection. There was even one scene where the camera was looking directly at itself in a mirror, which for some reason I find fascinating. I think that this was supposed to suggest that all of the dancing that went on in the film was all rehearsal for a play or some sort of live presentation, rather than people acting for the movie itself. This gives you a whole different perspective and, ironically enough, it makes the film seem even more realistic.

In Buenos Aires, the director Mario Suarez (Miguel Ángel Solá) is developing and rehearsing a tango play with historical events as background. Mario misses his mate Laura Fuentes (Cecilia Narova),who has recently left him, and is recovering from a car crash with an injured leg. When the major investor Angelo Larroca (Juan Luis Galiardo) asks for an audition for his lover Elena Flores (Mía Maestro),she succeeds and participates in the play; however, Mario falls in love for her and Elena fears the dangerous Angelo.

I saw "Tango" for the first time on 01 January 2001; I have just watched it again and I still believe it is one of the most wonderful tributes to the tango. Carlos Saura uses the concept that history is indestructible and recalls the dark years of military dictatorship in Argentina after the amnesty entwined with a passionate love of a middle-aged man for a young woman to build the plot, supported by stunning cast, choreography, music score and lighting. However, the conclusion is confused and disappointing, and I really do not understand the relationship of Angelo and Mario acting like pals in the last scene. Cecilia Narova and Mía Maestro are extremely beautiful and fantastic dancers, and I do not get tired of seeing them dancing tango. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Tango"