Tanghi argentini

I saw this movie at a special showing by a local film society of all the Oscar nominated Live Action Shorts about a week or so before the Oscars were announced. Of the five nominees, TANGHI ARGENTINI is by far the most enjoyable and entertaining. However, I predict that AT NIGHT will win because of its amazing acting and writing--even though it cannot be described by anyone as fun or entertaining.

THE Argentinian TANGO starts with a rather nerdy looking middle aged man on the computer at work late at night. When he's caught by the cleaning lady, she thinks he's looking at porn, though he's actually corresponding with a lady about the Tango. It seems they have met online and are going to finally meet at a dance.

The next day, this man approaches a grouchy co-worker and begs him to teach him to Tango--as everything he said online is a lie and he can't dance this complicated dance! Finally, after much cajoling, the other man agrees to teach him this passionate dance.

What happens next and all the great twists you'll have to see for yourself. There is so much more to this wonderful little story and it is utterly charming. A perfect little film that will make you smile.

UPDATE--Apparently I am lousy at guessing Oscars, as MOZART OF PICKPOCKETS just won the award for 2008.

Andre is an invisible office worker living a lonely existence when he engages a woman on the Internet. Problem is she likes to Tango and he can't. He gently cajoles a still cynical co-worker into teaching him. The big night arrives and all does not go according to plan. Or does it?

Tanghi argentini is a whimsical quarter hour film that swiftly moves along with humor and pathos, approaches tragedy, changes course and leaves you with a smile on your face. The actors establish character swiftly and the montage of tango lessons at the office are skillfully edited for humorous effect, making this sweet story hard to find fault with in any way.

A brilliant little short that you have to watch carefully from the beginning, or you might miss the twists that come. Andre, an office drone, is carrying on a romance via the internet with a dancer (he has taken on the cybername of "Bing Crosby"). When he sets up a date with her to dance the tango in public in two weeks, he pleads with his dour co-worker, Frans, to teach him how to dance. After much cajoling, Frans finally agrees. I'd love to tell you more, but that would give away the great plot twists that make this a gem of a movie - so simple, yet so elegant. On a side note: This film had fantastic production values. Watch the end credits and see how large a crew they used, and the big name sponsors they had. Impressive that a short was able to have so many resources.

I caught this on You Tube only because I'm a tango nut and I'm grateful I did. What a fabulous little film! What an amazingly wonderful quarter of an hour!

Sly, charming, witty, elegant, uplifting: the film totally blew me away. I've watched -- and been sorely disappointed by -- a lot of shorts over the past few months (not that there aren't superb ones out there as well). "Tanghi Argentini" not only restored my faith after a run of poor ones, but ranked right near the top of the Best of the Best.

Both its writing and the directing are terrific. The story is beautifully developed, and loaded with surprises. It toys with our internalization of tropes developed not only by Sally Potter and Masayuki Suo but television, then turns most of them on their heads.

The mise-en-scene betrays no suggestion of a tight budget and the film is very cleverly shot, making the best of some rather close quarters. The editing is appropriately crisp and the film bustles along. The cast is exceptional.

I pray that "Tanghi Argentini" makes it to a decent DVD collection so that many others can see it.

Tanghi argentini (2006)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Oscar-nominated short has a pudgy office clerk (Dirk van Dijck) meeting a woman on the internet and setting up a date where the two will dance the tango. The only problem is that he doesn't know the tango and must learn it in two weeks with the help of a co-worker. I caught this film on the Sundance Channel by accident but I'm glad I did because it's quite enjoyable from start to finish and extremely well made. What impressed me the most on the technical side was the 2.35:1 ratio they shot it in and how director Thys beautifully takes up every inch of the screen and fills it with some terrific images. When the big dance sequence finally arrives there's so much going on that your eyes really get a wonderful little work out. I think a lot of directors can't properly use the Scope ratio but that's certainly not the case here. The cast are all extremely good as well with van Dijck really standing out and bringing a lot of passion to his role. The entire film doesn't run too long but there's more heart here than many feature films out there. Extremely charming and worth viewing if you come across it.