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Tango Shalom
USA 2021
produced by Jos Laniado, Claudio Laniado, Jordi Caballero, Gabriel Bologna, Joseph Bologna, Zizi Bologna, Joel Zwick, Robert Meyer Burnett, Yan Fisher-Romanovsky (executive), Renée Taylor (executive), Judi Beecher (executive), Janet Winchell (executive) for Convivencia Forever Films
directed by Gabriel Bologna
starring Jos Laniado, Karina Smirnoff, Judi Beecher, Claudio Laniado, Renée Taylor, Lainie Kazan, Joseph Bologna, Marci Fine, Bern Cohen, Bob Greenberg, Laura Fay Lewis, Joanne Baron, Despina Mirou, Justine Laniado, Nicholas Foti, Samantha Rodino, Emma Argenziano, Luigi Ferrara, Xavier Frank, Hamza Zaman, Yasir Sitara, Mitch Poulos, Justin L. Wilson, Martin Pfefferkorn, Jay Michaels, Clarissa Hoffmann, Al Burgo, Arel Rivera, Noah Rivera, Frances Lozada, Jessica Cherniak, Paul David Miller, Matt Nagin, Joel Brody, David Serero, Noam Ash, Julian Tocker, Michael Salvia, Philip Anthony-Rodriguez, Carlos Barrionuevo, Mayte Valdes, Leonardo Barrionuevo, Miriam Larici, Jordi Caballero, Mayte Vicens, Daniel Arias, Zita Gonzalez, Ekaterina Fedosova, Marion Ossent
story by Jos Laniado, screenplay by Joseph Bologna, Jos Laniado, Claudio Laniado, music by Duo Z (= Zoe Tiganouria, Zizi Bologna)
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Basically, rabbi Moshe Yehuda (Jos Laniado) is a good man: He tries to
be as good a husband and a father as he can be, he tries to care for his
larger family as good as he can on his meagre income, and he's really as
open-minded as his hassidic beliefs allow him to be - and of late, he
can't deny it anymore, he's pretty much broke, especially since he's to
pay for his brother Rahamin's (Claudio Laniado) wedding. Now he's not one
to duck responsibility, so he goes looking for a job - only to learn that
the corporate world hasn't much need for a middle-aged man who has been a
rabbi for all his life. But on his his quest for employment he passes a
tango school, and since he has a natural talent for dancing, he just
imitates some dance moves he sees the students doing inside - enough to
catch the attention of tango teacher Viviana (Karina Smirnoff) who invites
him in and is soon to see his natural talent. But then disaster strikes
for her when she learns that her partner for next month's tango contest
has just dropped her, and desperately in need of someone talented enough
to participate with her in his stead, she turns to Moshe, figuring if
someone's teachable enough to be her partner within the month, it's Moshe.
Now in principle he agrees to do it (also because it would mean lots of
money) - but his religion doesn't allow him to touch women other than his
wife (Judi Beecher). This is of course a conundrum, so he goes to his
rabbi (Bern Cohen), and when he can't help him to a Christian priest
(Joseph Bologna), an imam (Yasir Sitara) and even a Hindu mystic (Hamza
Zaman), but none of them can help him, only the mystic hands him a balloon
- which he quickly realizes is the solution to all his problems. But even
if he's now "allowed" to dance tango without touching, it's
still another thing to win his prejudiced community and even family over
to his side of thinking. And then he still has to master the dance by the
time of the competition ...
Tango Shalom is a very sweet film - and in the best
possible way, too, as even if the film is on the surface about religion
and religious ramifications, it is really much more universal and has a
very humane heart to it that transcend's Hassidic Judaism (or really any
other religion touched upon in the movie). And likewise, while the film
might not be all free of clichés, both concerning religion and otherwise,
they're all brought across in a very loving and non-discriminating way.
And add to that a relatable cast playing likeable characters, a subtle
direction, and dance scenes that really get one moving, and you've got a
very nice piece of unlikely dance cinema.
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review © by Mike Haberfelner
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