20 years ago, in the late 1990s, Moti Cohen discovered "The Panthers". As everywhere else in the world, rock'n'roll, later rock and then punk was, in Argentina, something for the young, the cool, the rebellious: against the tedium of adulthood, against folklorism, and thus, of course, against tango as music "for tourists". The Panthers, with their hit "I Had The Heart", were something different. Not much has happened since however. Moti’s instinct for the next hit song seems to have deserted him - just like his wife and his money. He struggles both to finance his son's bar mitzvah and, at the same time, keep up with the rapid changes occurring in the music industry.
On making the acquaintance of the stuttering mechanic and tango singer Bartolo, he resolves to get him and a band stage-ready for an upcoming music festival. Before long, his hostility towards the hits of yesteryear disappears as Cohen gets into the groove and discovers that tango and rock, worlds old and new, actually go quite well together: In the process of putting together his new tango-rock medley, he comes to realise that the music of his parents' generation can also boast of a long history and a deep soul.
With and between the stage performances and interludes of song, co-director and lead actor Oliver Kolker composes here a feel-good film rich in self-ironic undertones, in the process engaging with his own sense of antagonism towards the music of his parents' generation.
Director’s statement:
"Rock in Argentina, which emerged as an expression of rebellion by the youth of the time, had Elvis Presley, The Beatles, The Who and many other bands as references. But all these Argentine Rockers who today are icons around their 70 years, Charly García, Luis Alberto Spinetta (now deceased), Gustavo Santaolalla and even Fito Páez himself, had tango roots in their souls, they listened to it, played it and surely memorized it. [… ] But the continuous comparison between Tango and Rock never ceased, they were always opposite and could never merge, achieving any alternative genre. The story I decided to tell is contemporary in relation to the protagonist, Moti Cohen, who was born in the 1970s, but lived with his father Samuel Cohen, a tango musician, bandoneon player and very frustrated not only by his own artistic limitations but by the overwhelming growth of Argentine Rock that took the hearts of the people, becoming a popular phenomenon."
Text: Bernd Buder and Merlin Webers
Additional Screening
Wed, May 7, 19:00
JÜDISCHE GEMEINDE LK OBERHAVEL
(Lehnitzstraße 36, 16515 Oranienburg)
