Charming
Pourpier | Los Angeles, USA | 02/18/2006
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I had become quite familiar with the voice and songs of Carlos Gardel without having seen him performing any of them. He used to sing 2 to 4 songs per movie. I love all his songs and couldn't decide which movie to pick, so I decided to dive and pick the unsure one with 4 movies! On Amazon site, there is no image of the cover, the only review does not talk about the DVD's, and the producer's comments list only the songs.
The good surprise for me was that all the movies were in Spanish (no English version), with subtitles in English or Spanish, so you can practice your spanish. But the English subtitles have been forgotten for the first one (El dia que me quieras). The movies are not too long, so I watched the 4 of them in a row. Are the flaws due to the CD being made in Argentine? There are no extras on the DVD's, no comments, no history. Considering the high price of the package, and the amount of information easily available on this most famous tango singer of all times, the production company could have made an effort to add something else to the movies, on the extra section.
These set aside, I was delighted to see Carlos Gardel perform those songs and play in those movies. It is neither superior acting nor incredible scripts, but the man is bigger than life. His facial expressions, eyebrows, eyes, head (and body) movements were just so in phase with what I imagined from his voice. It is absolutely charming. Gardel had this huge genuine smile on his face. The last movie, Tango in Broadway, is the lightest of all, comedy wise. He just let himself go, obviously enjoying himself and the company of those babes. But even the other serious stories are quite entertaining. There are also at least one or two scenes of Tango dancing in each movie, including Carlos Gardel dancing them. It is so nice to see those guys perform Argentine Tango the "Buenos Aires streets" way.
Of course, you need to care for black and white movies. I don't think there has been any re-work or remastering, the title jumps a little, there is a little noise scratch like from the old grammaphones. I just take it as a collectible, but I don't know if there are remasterized copies of those available."
Stellar!
Andrea V. Paradiso "drey" | Ambridge, PA USA | 01/15/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I was born in Argentina and came to the U.S. at 7 years of age. For 43 years my Mom spoke of Carlos Gardel as the epitome of tango icons. She always said with a sigh that she would probably never see his movies again. Well, guess what happens in 2006?---Amazon and the internet and she gets 4 movies for Christmas! She tells me they play exactly like they did when she saw them as a wee little girl. Amazon and the Argentines that put this together have made my Mom very happy. The discs have a few extras and it's a simple package. For collector's or vintage film buffs, my opinion is that the collection is great. Thanks a lot Amazon for making my Mom's dream come true!"