David O'ConnellPatrice Leconte's TANGO
September 4th 2008 05:53
This wicked black comedy and road movie from 1993 is yet another wonderful diversion from the great French director, Patrice Leconte, though it may be more of an acquired taste than some of his amiable commercial hits, an atypical variation on his comedic stylings.
It’s somewhat of a boy’s own adventure too with a trio of unlikely men of varying ages drawn together by circumstance and their confusion and frustration suffered constantly at the hands of the fairer sex!
We first meet a carefree, and slightly wacky, middle-aged stunt pilot, Vincent (Richard Bohringer) who discovers that his gorgeous younger wife takes a lover whilst he’s flying high above their house and beyond; he decides to do something about it and terrifies the guy by chasing him in his plane, causing his car to crash and burst into a ball of flames! But he isn’t done yet – he decides on a similar fate for his cheating wife and cuts her seat strap on their next flight – part of an anniversary gift – and watches her plummet into space as he performs a loop-de-loop!!!
It’s a moment of absurdist dark humour and Leconte has a few more in store as we fast-forward in time after Vincent is stunningly allowed to walk free after his trial, to a time when he learns he must repay the debt unknowingly provided by the judge, known pretentiously as Elegance (Philippe Noiret) - it’s his nephew, Paul (Thierry Lhermitte) who comes to him with a problem: his cheating wife, Marie (Miou-Miou) has left him and he can’t live without her.
The judge’s solution is simple – he’ll call in his debt with the past killer, Vincent, who he generously let off with a future favour in mind, and together they will track her down where Vincent will do away with her in whatever manner he chooses! Paul is of the opinion that if he can’t have her, then he can’t stand the thought of any other man in the world having her either!
There are plenty of colourful, diverting adventures along the way, which include having a woman who shoots her husband in a family restaurant tag along, desperate for one of them to make her pregnant because it’s her best day for ovulation, and meeting an old bellhop in a hotel who spies on his rich young wife as she randomly takes lovers back to her room.
The trio constantly bemoans the complexities of women and their ultimate uselessness, though it’s the wife-killer, Vincent who now finds the other men’s arguments the hardest to swallow. Though all three are blatant misogynists you can’t help laughing at their sometimes wicked dialogue and wryly bleak observations about the battle of the sexes.
This is another sparkling piece of entertainment from Leconte, further showing his versatility with any comedic or dramatic style, often a skillful mixture of both. It’s a more subversive, less commercial film than some of his others, and though its odd moments of silly, absurdist humour may turn some viewers off, I ultimately found it to be a thoroughly entertaining romp – and who doesn’t love a road movie anyway?
(* This film is one of the 3 films that make up the first Essential Patrice Leconte collection released on DVD by Hopscotch. I reviewed Monsieur Hire here previously, and it also includes My Best Friend, a 2006 film. Sadly the subtitles for these releases are just not up to scratch and quite shoddy in parts which is a shame because the transfers themselves are flawless and they take the gloss off what is a great release, with a second volume imminent too. Hopefully they’ve raised their standard with the new boxset)
Trailer from Tango:
It’s somewhat of a boy’s own adventure too with a trio of unlikely men of varying ages drawn together by circumstance and their confusion and frustration suffered constantly at the hands of the fairer sex!
We first meet a carefree, and slightly wacky, middle-aged stunt pilot, Vincent (Richard Bohringer) who discovers that his gorgeous younger wife takes a lover whilst he’s flying high above their house and beyond; he decides to do something about it and terrifies the guy by chasing him in his plane, causing his car to crash and burst into a ball of flames! But he isn’t done yet – he decides on a similar fate for his cheating wife and cuts her seat strap on their next flight – part of an anniversary gift – and watches her plummet into space as he performs a loop-de-loop!!!
It’s a moment of absurdist dark humour and Leconte has a few more in store as we fast-forward in time after Vincent is stunningly allowed to walk free after his trial, to a time when he learns he must repay the debt unknowingly provided by the judge, known pretentiously as Elegance (Philippe Noiret) - it’s his nephew, Paul (Thierry Lhermitte) who comes to him with a problem: his cheating wife, Marie (Miou-Miou) has left him and he can’t live without her.
The judge’s solution is simple – he’ll call in his debt with the past killer, Vincent, who he generously let off with a future favour in mind, and together they will track her down where Vincent will do away with her in whatever manner he chooses! Paul is of the opinion that if he can’t have her, then he can’t stand the thought of any other man in the world having her either!
There are plenty of colourful, diverting adventures along the way, which include having a woman who shoots her husband in a family restaurant tag along, desperate for one of them to make her pregnant because it’s her best day for ovulation, and meeting an old bellhop in a hotel who spies on his rich young wife as she randomly takes lovers back to her room.
Paul (Thierry Lhermitte) Elegance (Philippe Noiret) and Vincent (Richard Bohringer) hide in a field whilst a crazed man atttacks their car!
The trio constantly bemoans the complexities of women and their ultimate uselessness, though it’s the wife-killer, Vincent who now finds the other men’s arguments the hardest to swallow. Though all three are blatant misogynists you can’t help laughing at their sometimes wicked dialogue and wryly bleak observations about the battle of the sexes.
This is another sparkling piece of entertainment from Leconte, further showing his versatility with any comedic or dramatic style, often a skillful mixture of both. It’s a more subversive, less commercial film than some of his others, and though its odd moments of silly, absurdist humour may turn some viewers off, I ultimately found it to be a thoroughly entertaining romp – and who doesn’t love a road movie anyway?
Vincent early on as the crazed pilot........ah, the joys of aeronautical homicide!!!!
(* This film is one of the 3 films that make up the first Essential Patrice Leconte collection released on DVD by Hopscotch. I reviewed Monsieur Hire here previously, and it also includes My Best Friend, a 2006 film. Sadly the subtitles for these releases are just not up to scratch and quite shoddy in parts which is a shame because the transfers themselves are flawless and they take the gloss off what is a great release, with a second volume imminent too. Hopefully they’ve raised their standard with the new boxset)
Trailer from Tango:
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Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
I've had this one on my "to see" list forever...thanks for the details of the DVD and the timely reminder.
Great review
Comment by David O'Connell
Screen Fanatic