Review of Tango (1993)

Introduction

`Tango` is as dark a comedy as it`s possible to make without descending into the realms of very poor taste. It`s a strangely misogynistic tale which follows the `Women - you can`t live with them …` maxim to its most logical and deadly conclusion.

Richard Bohringer (he with the croaky voice that makes Lee Marvin sound like Barry Gibb, star of `The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover` amongst many others) plays the role of a pensive and wronged husband, Vincent, who takes revenge on his adulterous wife and her lover with the imaginative use of his stunt-plane. Preposterously, the judge at his trial (Philippe Noiret) acquits him against all expectations and, despite even his own protests, he`s led from the chamber as a free-man. He then settles down to a peaceful life of fishing and womanising.

However, his freedom comes with strings attached. When the Judge`s nephew Paul (Thierry Lhermitte) decides that he wants to see his wife killed so that he can erase her from his memory (after she leaves him due to his serial adultery), the Judge offers Vincent an ultimatum. He should kill the wife on their behalf, or face 20 years imprisonment when he reopens the suppressed files from Vincent`s court-case for murder.

The scene is now set for an almost surreal black comedy as the trio go in pursuit of the elusive wife who has headed off to Africa on a charitable mission. Form here on in, `Tango` becomes a quirky road movie that gently plods from one surreal adventure to the next, with ample time for philosophising on the nature of womanhood along the way.

It`s a formula that works and 90 minutes passes as if the movie was half this length, always entertaining, always thought provoking, and beautifully shot.
There`s a really first class cameo Jean Rochefort as a bellboy who takes up menial positions in hotels to be close to his wealthy and adulterous wife who takes an endless stream of transient lovers, including the Judges nephew Paul.

As if to redress the misogynistic balance, there is also a scene where a female kills her husband and joins the group briefly before settling in a small town as a shoe salesperson. By this time, nothing seems unlikely or improbable.

Video

A nice widescreen Technicolor presentation, well preserved and transferred here in virtually flawless form.

Audio

The soundtrack here, presented in Dolby stereo, is fine, with a sympathetic score and some really great dialogue. It`s light on special effects and one can only imagine what could have been done with the stunt flying sequences had they re-mastered in 5.1.

Features

None.

Conclusion

This curiously dark comedy never feels malevolent or distasteful, despite its narrative veering dangerously towards unbridled misogyny. Patrice Leconte, when pressed on the issue when this movie was released in 1993, claimed that its message was possibly that men and women are not meant to live with one another; a kind of dark take of the `Men are from Mars` routine. But if bitter personal experience fuelled the creation of the film, it`s just too amusing, too entertaining to offend. In common with Leconte`s other work, the cinematography is excellent, the script amusing, and the casting almost perfect. I personally didn`t find this as moving as `Le Perfum d`Yvonne` for example, but it`s a fine film nonetheless.