The Tango of the Widower and Its Distorting Mirror

The Tango of the Widower and its Distorting Mirror is a film in two times: in 1967, through the eye of Raúl Ruiz, when the Chilean director was making his first fiction film at 27; and in 2020, the moment in which Valeria Sarmiento, the filmmaker’s widow, rescued the 35 mm cans and ended the process Ruiz was not able to in almost 50 years. In order to give voice to the characters, a group of deaf lip-reading specialists deciphered every word the actors pronounce. The story also takes place at two different times: after going through the grief of losing his wife to suicide, a professor finds himself face to face with her. Is it an illusion? Is it the desire to see her again? The protagonist is followed rain or shine by her loved one, now turned into a ghost, and slowly starts to mimic the specter that follows him, multiplying the questions and mysteries that float in the rarefied atmosphere. (Mar del Plata International Film Festival)