User reviews

Quite simply mesmerising. I saw this in the modern art museum in Warsaw and saw it 3 times before I left the room. I think I'll probably watch it another 10 times on YouTube before I even come close to appreciating how intricate and clever it is (THIS is what marks it apart from the soppy The Snowman that some seem to think deserved the Oscar). The interaction (without actual interaction) between the multitude of characters is fascinating to behold. As my partner put it, "I'm freaking out!"

There are few short films as quietly audacious as Zbigniew Rybczynski's Tango (1981). At first glance, it's just a room. A dozen or so characters. And a bunch of doors. But give it a moment, and you realize you're witnessing something that's less film and more a perfectly choreographed dance of chaos and control-shot, layered, and edited long before "digital" was a household word.

Rybczynski didn't just shoot a film; he invented a new way to bend time and space. Imagine dozens of characters performing their loops-slamming doors, reading newspapers, chasing a cat-all on the same stage, but none ever bumping into one another. The trick? Multiple exposures painstakingly composited together, frame by frame, before computers made such feats routine. It's a technical marvel that feels like watching a Swiss watch in motion: every cog clicking perfectly in time.

But Tango isn't just a showcase for wizardry. Beneath its mechanical beauty lies a sly commentary on the claustrophobia of everyday life-especially in Cold War Poland, where conformity was both demanded and defied. These repeated actions, these overlapping routines, capture the strange tension of living inside a system that prizes order but can't quite suppress human unpredictability.

And it's funny, too-in a deadpan, almost absurdist way. The film's title could easily be mistaken for a romantic dance, but this Tango is more about the push and pull of routine and rebellion, of isolation in a crowded room. The black-and-white visuals, coupled with a hypnotic score, make the whole thing feel like a fever dream of daily life seen under a microscope.

Watching Tango now, in an age where visual effects can create entire universes with a click, you appreciate just how ahead of its time it was. It's a film that demands patience, precision, and a willingness to be swept up in its looping world-a world that is as mesmerizing as it is oddly relatable.

In short: Tango isn't just a film. It's a reminder that even in the most regimented spaces, life finds a way to dance.

Zbigniew Rybczynski won an Oscar for this piece of art, and maybe it inspired Christopher Nolan and the creator of Bluey (the episode Hand Stand). I'd love to see the behind-the-scenes of Tango because how was it filmed and maintain patience at the same time?

Tango is a fantastic short, animated as a collage of live action film clips. It begins simply, with one boy retrieving a lost ball in a repeating pattern. He is joined by others who also follow repeating patterns of their own. It climaxes with a screen packed with individuals all going about their business in complete ignorance of the actions of the others, and ends as simply as it began. All this is done without words (except for the repeated shout of a man falling from a table). If you have the opportunity, I highly recommend this artistic short.

The movie slowly grabs you. One simple layer of action is coordinated with another simple layer. A third and a fourth join this constellation of action till we have so many layers weaving about each other that I lost count. The entrance of the delightful blonde stole the show for me, adding sexiness and a dash of mischief. Great fun!

This short takes your breath away, as you wonder how on earth he could have produced it, and all the while trying to keep up with the action on screen.

Technically brilliant, but also offers an insight into Polish culture (and communism as a whole) and bears repeated viewing, in fact demands it

The year 1982 saw three shorts nominated for the Academy Award for Animated Short. All were excellent and could easily have won. It was the misfortune of The Great Cognito and The Snowman that they were in direct competition with this short. This is so intricately done and so fascinating in its conception and execution, that words fail me. It reminds me of the feeling I get when I look at the works of M.C. Escher. This must be watched (more than once) to be fully grasped. One warning is necessary: this is not for children. A portion or two of this is most decidedly adult in nature. Most decidedly and solidly recommended!

In this masterpiece of timing and cinematic movement kept me enthralled for the full period. One begins to focus on a single entity and soon another moves into the room. There is true choreography everywhere. The movements of the characters never clash, they move seamlessly, doing the same repetitive dance. It's impossible for a brief review to do this justice. I would urge everyone to see this at some point.

when i saw it first time it was before the main movie we saw in the cinema. it was great. I was looking on it and try to understand how it was possible to make that film so long time ago. i think it's one of most interesting short movies i have ever seen and it's not because of im from poland :)

I did feel a bit sorry for the lad with the football. He must have climbed in and out of the window fifty-odd times in this curious short feature that has something of the "Twelve Days of Christmas" to it. Not that it's in any way, seasonal. It is that each character who takes part in the scene repeats their role and steadily the number of participants increases. Each always enters, does the same thing, leaves, falls over, dresses - there's even some sex - all seen by one locked-off camera - before it all abruptly reverses and an old lady finds herself bemusedly in possession of a football! Accompanied by a tango style theme, this is repetitive but quirkily and engagingly so.

When you first begin watching this film, you can't help but wonder "how in the heck did they make this?"--as the animation style is so odd. I am only guess that they probably used a blue screen (I think green screens for special effects were used later in film history) and filmed lots of different people doing very random things--such as retrieving a suitcase or basketball, changing clothes (with a brief peek of female nudity--not much, really) and taking care of a baby. I assume that each layer of actions was simply superimposed over top the background (which you can do by eliminating everything but the actor with the blue screen). In the beginning, one of these individuals enters the room and then leaves. A bit later, another enters and the last person returns. And over time, more and more and more people enter the picture and begin doing their random actions. None of the people interact and the actions become fast and frantic once more enter the picture. There really is no plot--it's more of an experimental style film.

A fascinating experiment, but not a film you'd want to see repeatedly! It did receive the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film. Did it deserve this honor? Well, the time, it was pretty interesting compared to what little animation was being done at the time (and most of it wasn't particularly good), so for the early 80s it was at least different. However, this same Oscar contest also featured the lovely and timeless film THE SNOWMAN. How TANGO beat THE SNOWMAN is beyond me, as THE SNOWMAN is simply gorgeous to watch and hear. In fact, this might just be one of the worst decisions in Oscar history. Maybe the Oscar committee was trying to recognize a film made in the Communist Bloc (especially since the previous year they game gobs of Oscars to the pro-communist film REDS). In the long run, think about how many people today have seen and enjoyed THE SNOWMAN versus TANGO and I think I've made my point. You can find copies of this sweet film in practically every video store--even a quarter of a century later. Watch TANGO only if you are a die-hard cinephile.

No, seriously, how? How this was chosen as the Best Animated Short from that year?

Tango was nowhere was good nor as memorable as said short.

The Snowman was a beautiful, heartwarming film. This, by contrast ultimately felt boring and pointless.

Now, I'm very open minded towards surreal, experimental shorts and movies (Some of them are my favorite films), but this wasn't remotely interesting nor entertaining in any way, being instead just repetitive and weird for the sake of being weird.

This is perhaps my least favorite Best Animated Short film winner, especially considering its competition was miles better.

At least The Crunch Bird made me chuckle a bit. This was not even able to manage to do that.

My vote is four of ten.