Recensioni degli utenti

Even tough I do not agree with some directive choices, especially the ending, which I find to happy and inconsequencial for such an event, yet understanding why it was taken, I have naught to critique on a deeper level, which has nothing to do with my personal preferences.

Frrom a visual point of view, this film is gorgeous, whilst also working beautifully with classic tango, giving the themes a great wrap-up, taking classic argentine themes, yet never over-doing it.

Having not lived the events, yet knowing this country, I cannot and shall not judge the historical accuracy, especially as this aspect is always one of the most debated and.difficult ones, yet this film properly and believingly portrays the desperate state of the people.

Apart from all of this, I truly find that the quantity of characters was very well managed, as well as the length of this film, rather of acceseable length, yet taking its time wherever necessary.

Julio Färber (Diego CREMONESI) is Argentinian of German descent and lives poorly in Buenos Aires with his German-born mother (Regina LAMM) and teenage daughter (Violeta NARVAY). Out of despair over the corruption, hyperinflation and overwhelming economic crisis (we are in the year 2001!) in the country, he wants to emigrate to Berlin, Germany with his mother and daughter. If only it were not for his long-time friends with whom the enthusiastic bandoneon player can live out his passionate love for tango music. And then there is this lovely taxi driver (Marina BELLATI) who does not stop at a red light...

Director German KRAL, who came to München (Munich) to study in 1991 at the age of 23, succeeds in creating an emotional declaration of love for Argentina, his birthplace Buenos Aires and the music of tango, without concealing the difficult living conditions of his protagonists.

A very successful film!

Maybe it's just me, or maybe it was the mood I was in, but I thought this was a wonderful movie. It takes place in a country that's on the verge of collapse (Argentina in 2002). Nobody has any money and frustrated people want to leave. But no one can get his money out of the bank because the government has put a restriction on how much money they can withdraw. People are losing their jobs and their homes, businesses are going bankrupt, and families are falling apart.

The story concerns a man in his forties or early 50s who wants to emigrate. It CAN be done, but it's extremely difficult. He and his wife (or ex-wife-I wasn't sure) no longer live together. Their 14-year-old daughter lives with her mother. His store can't get the necessary stock; people owe him money, but are unable to pay. He used to make money on the weekends playing in a tango bar/restaurant, but the restaurant's business is now so poor that the pay is no longer in cash, but in a few empanadas a night. The movie begins with a female taxi driver (who will lose her job if anyone finds out she doesn't have insurance) running a red light and wrecking his car, which leads to a series of attempts to recover his losses. In a vain hope of replacing the band's singer, the man persuades a former singing star to come out of retirement and join them. Alas, the poor old singer's memory is no longer very good and he has trouble remembering song lyrics. This all sounds like a big downer, but it ends up being a very sweet, wistful, and ultimately wise film. I found myself weeping several times in the movie, but not because of anything particularly sad, but the small moments that illuminated the characters' internal lives. The big ensemble cast were all able to make a strong impression, even in the smallest roles. In a lot of ways, it's Chekhovian. And remember, Chekhov called his plays comedies. I give it a 10.

In this fascinating city, with its rich mix of people and traditions, human dramas are played out to the background of the crashing economy and social unrest of 2002. As the characters struggle to lead decent lives, external fate or their internal contradictions keep sabotaging their efforts. From the collapse of their dreams come abiding realities: love of one's partner, parents and children, love of friends, and love of the country in which one belongs.

The pull of Argentina is expressed in its music. Julio, divorcing owner of an unprofitable shoe shop, and his friends form a tango band which plays in a rundown and ill-frequented (but authentic) bar, maintaining a fading tradition that was once a core strand of the nation's mythology. With his bandoneon, and an ancient singer they fortuitously find in an old people's home, old standards of the 1920s are brought back to life and couples rediscover the mystic joy of the dance. Moments of rythmical magic compensate for the repetitive shocks of everyday existence.