Le Tango des Rashevski (2003) - film review

The Rashevksi family is in mourning after the death of the grandmother, Rosa.  Her two children are uncertain whether to hold a religious funeral or not.  Although Rosa never practised her faith, she reserved a place in the Jewish part of a cemetery.  For the granddaughter Nina, Rosa’s death has awakened a profound interest in her Jewish origins and she resolves only to marry a Jew.  This causes a problem for Antoine, who has fallen in love with her and realises that he must convert to Judaism so that he can make her his wife...

Although somewhat prone to cliché and directed a little heavy handedly, Le Tango des Rashevski still manages to be an engaging portrait of a family of disparate individuals who are all struggling with their Jewish identity.  Sam Garbarski’s debut feature as a director is not a polished piece of cinema and feels slow and repetitive in a few places, but it deals with real human issues in a sensitive and convincing manner.  The film’s obvious flaws are cancelled out by noteworthy contributions from Hippolyte Girardot and Ludmila Mikaël, two talented actors who provide the film with its dramatic focus and show us that love and faith are really just two words for the same thing.

© filmsdefrance.com 2009

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