Tango at the movies

Por Una Cabeza; Scent Of A Woman

The discriminatory nature of the motion picture camera chooses not only her own criteria for what will dazzle visually up on the silver screen, but also the touchstone that determines which song, and the style it imbues, will carry a scene off from the screen, down the aisle and up to the Oscar. When you’ve got IT, get ready to work some overtime because Hollywood has some deep pockets and you’ve got to help them fill them.

I remember the tango scene from one of the Addams Family movies with the music by Marc Shaiman. I felt absolutely filthy after listening to it. I loved it. Another friend showed me scenes from the movie called “Tango”, a film directed by Spanish director Carlos Saura that takes place in Argentina. Lalo Schifrin wrote the music for this flick, and he even has some film time with some of the other musicians.

But the tango piece with the finest reputation of all comes from the pens of Carlos Gardel, composer, and Alfredo Le Pera, lyricist in 1935. “Por Una Cabeza”, “for just one head (of a horse)”, tells of a compulsive horse-track gambler who compares his addiction for the horses with his attraction to women. Mr. Gardel holds a place in history as probably the most prominent figure in all of the world of tango. He spent virtually his whole life in Argentina and died the same year that he wrote this famous song.

“True Lies”, directed by James Cameron, “Scent Of A Woman”, featuring a tango scene expertly danced by Oscar-winning Al Pacino, and “Schindler’s List”, the masterpiece of Steven Spielberg, all have used this song, in almost identical arrangements, for their respective noteworthy and celebrated tango scenes. In the movie “Frida”, none other than the composer himself can be heard singing “Por Una Cabeza” on the radio in the background.

I play with an ensemble that provides music for society dances, and the woman who manages the booking and the dance-book has included an arrangement of this song. As you read the music, you come to a part where it says to “play this section like the pianist does in the movie.” So, in order to do as the arranger requests, I had to download this piece onto my iPod. And I’m so very glad that I did. It’s marvelous.

Credits: To the artistry of Al Pacino, for his convincing efforts to portray a blind man who not only tangos, but leads. And to my friend Pete Wilson, who annually arranges music for his group to play for “Music In Our Schools Month”, and arranged this tango in 2002. Bravo.