Tango Shalom – Fun Dance Movie

 

Director: Gabriel Bologna

Writer: Joseph Bologna, Claudio Laniado (Screenplay) Jos Laniado (Story)

Starring: Lainie Kazan, Renee Taylor, Joe Bologna, Jos Laniado, Judi Beecher, Karina Smirnoff

Plot: A Tango dancer and a rabbi develop a plan to enter a dance competition without sacrificing his orthodox beliefs. Family, tolerance, and community are tested one dazzling dance step at a time.

Runtime: 1 Hour 55 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Story: Tango Shalom starts as we meet Rabbi Moshe Yehuda (Laniado) who has seen his family start to fall on hard times, needing to find money to keep the business and his family secure, his kind nature will see him wanting to help the community.

When Moshe goes in search for a new job, he finds an Argentinian dance school, where he gets caught dancing to the teacher Viviana Nieves (Smirnoff) routine, showing more talent than her class. The problem for Moshe isn’t allowed to touch another woman, making the tango a difficult routine to learn and when Viviana asks him to be her partner in dance competition, the two must figure out how to perform the routine without touching.

Thoughts on Tango Shalom

Characters & Performances – Rabbi Moshe Yehuda is following the strict orthodox ways, which has seen him starting to struggle to keep the finances of his family in order. He goes in search of a job around the neighbourhood with the only job he gets offered would risk the people who offered wellbeing. He has always enjoyed dancing, with a chance encounter letting him show off his tango skills, leaving with an option, find a way to go against his beliefs and dance the tango, or find a way to do the tango without touching his partner. Viviana Nieves is the dance instructor that has been planning on entering into a dance competition only for her partner to turn their back on her, with her turning to Moshe, looking to step into a unique style of tango, one that will make them stand out and never before seen. The pair might not be the normal on the outside looking in, but deep down the pair both need the same thing and will use what they can to succeed. In the supporting cast we get to meet the friends and family of Moshe, as well as the people looking down on what he is doing, different people will give us laughs along the way. The performances in the film are great with Jos Laniado and Karina Smirnoff taking the leading roles in the film.

Story – The story here puts an orthodox Jew in a difficult position of needing to find money, but never wanting to put anyone in his community in any difficult as he searches, he gets to express his passion for tango in a dance competition, with one hitch, he can’t touch his dance partner. This story will give a unique insight into how a religious figure must overcome a problem and is willing to discuss the matter with leaders outside of his own faith, balanced with the idea that you would need to support your family and community, giving us the insight into how somebody might look to overcome this. We will get to look at the world where people are judging people unfairly in their decisions, without looking at the meaning behind their actions.

Themes – Tango Shalom is a drama filled with the love of dance, it will show the problems in life and how dance kind find peace in it even just for a moment. The dance routines are the typical preparing for the big show moments, which work very well throughout, showing the pair work on something different to stand out. The locations will bring us a look at the community feeling that you will find in New York, showing how each bloke seems to offer a new culture in life.

Released on September 3 – Theatrical & VOD October 29

Final Thoughts – Tango Shalom is an enjoyable dance movie, showing the cultural issues around enjoying small parts of life.