wjovb
Joined Aug 2004
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wjovb's rating
This is an utterly charming film. It honors a storied actor who has never given up striving for the perfect role and tells the real-life story of her relationship with a sweetly naive Hollywood newcomer who refuses to lose sight of his own goals. Tyler Steelman is just right as Zack and Tom Donnelly is outstanding as a hustler looking for a way into the Hollywood game. In many ways this movie is a throwback to the glorious moment for indie films in the late '90s and early '00s. It proves once again that you don't need computer graphics or studio glitz to make a film that demonstrates real affection for its characters and a spirit of hope and optimism -- all leavened with irony-free humor. Xaque Gruber's first feature-length film should move him firmly onto the path toward a solid future as a crowd-pleasing writer-director in Hollywood.
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.
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.
Wajda does a splendid job of enlivening for the contemporary screen what remains essentially a vehicle for the 19th Century stage. His editing is quick and adds sparkle to some splendid characterizations. Polanski is a revelation. The rest of the cast is excellent, including the young lovers. Clearly, an updated sampling of Poland's literary heritage is something "Robocop" enthusiasts may find hard to endure easily. The film is without belly laughs; rather,it provides a constant sense of building amusement and charm. It is far more accessible to us non-Poles than "Pan Tadeusz." If you know only Wajda's weightier political films, you owe it to yourself to see this one. Advisory: Even though the extras are promoted on the jacket of my DVD, they appear to be in Polish only, a real disappointment.