AllMovie

This stylized treatment of the life of celebrated Argentine tango singer and composer Carlos Gardel (1890-1935) is based on the play El Dia Que Me Quieras by Venezuelan playwright Jose Ignacio Cabrujas, who also wrote the screenplay. Gardel is a giant figure in his native country, where he is considered the man who put Argentine tango music "on the map." He worked in Hollywood and attained widespread popularity throughout Latin America. He died in an airplane crash on his way from Venezuela to Mexico. In the film, scenes from Gardel's life are interwoven and contrasted with moments from the life of Pio Miranda (Fausto Verdial), a Marxist revolutionary of the period. The film examines the process whereby real men are turned into heroic, mythical figures. Argentine actor Claudio Berge does an amazing job embodying the legendary Gardel. The film contains much of Gardel's music, which we hear in original recording lip-synced by Begre.