We are brought into this story slowly, with the first focus on a "den of thieves" in Buenos Aires. They live in squalid conditions, counting the disposition of a dozen cheap beers consumed in the day as an issue of great importance. We eventually find that they are henchmen to an art museum guard who is planning the theft of a somewhat important, but very sale-able piece of art. We also find that one of the group, Franco, has murdered a man in a theft gone very bad, taking only pocket change and a cassette tape.
This tape becomes the entry point into Franco's obsession. He listens to the music and begins to sing along. Between flashbacks from the murder we find the identity of the victim to be a tango singer of some small local fame but possessed of the real soul of the tango. We alternate between the group's plans for the theft and Franco's pursuit of the life he eliminated.
The development of the group's characters is a bit of a dead end in that by the middle of the movie they become little more than a plot element to resolve the end of the story. As Franco estranges himself from the group and their plans he insinuates himself into the life of his victim, working with the partner (a bandoneon player), singing at the club, sleeping with the wife.
It's a beautifully done, wonderfully sung movie. It has become one of my strongest memories from the Cleveland International Film Festival. More music would have been even better, and although the ending is a little bit contrived, we know that Franco must die to complete the circle. It doesn't matter how; it helps the irony that it's his partners. Queue up some Astor Piazolla for when you get home.
This tape becomes the entry point into Franco's obsession. He listens to the music and begins to sing along. Between flashbacks from the murder we find the identity of the victim to be a tango singer of some small local fame but possessed of the real soul of the tango. We alternate between the group's plans for the theft and Franco's pursuit of the life he eliminated.
The development of the group's characters is a bit of a dead end in that by the middle of the movie they become little more than a plot element to resolve the end of the story. As Franco estranges himself from the group and their plans he insinuates himself into the life of his victim, working with the partner (a bandoneon player), singing at the club, sleeping with the wife.
It's a beautifully done, wonderfully sung movie. It has become one of my strongest memories from the Cleveland International Film Festival. More music would have been even better, and although the ending is a little bit contrived, we know that Franco must die to complete the circle. It doesn't matter how; it helps the irony that it's his partners. Queue up some Astor Piazolla for when you get home.
