"Naked Tango" is a movie centered in the artificial world of an Argentine bordello in the 1920s, a world where nothing is exactly as it seems. Stephanie has taken on the persona of Alba, a mail-order bride from Poland. Zico and his mother are not just wealthy Jewish socialites, but they are the owners of a bordello where European mail-order girls are forced into prostitution. When Alba says to the prostitutes, "Everything here is fake", she is absolutely right. For it is image and attitude that matter in this tango, not the truth.

For Cholo, every move he makes is a pose, a stylistic tango front. From his suits to his spats he is the quintessential tanguero personified. He even walks down a back alley with Zico, all the while dancing tango steps. He participates in ritualistic knife fights on street corners to complete the "pose". However, there are times when Cholo loses his composure, and without his front he is left with only himself, the naked Cholo. The giveaway is revealed directly in his wounded eyes, as he stares directly into hers, in moments such as when Zico is raping Alba and Cholo cannot watch, or when Cholo admits to Alba that she has "cut his heart out."

Cholo explains to Alba that "The beauty you are born with doesn't count. The only thing that counts is the beauty you make." He metaphorically kills all traces of the former Stephanie and remakes Alba into a woman after his own image ­- the perfect tanguera: "Cholita". When Alba rejects him and returns home, the Judge then attempts to remake her into his own image of beauty, and even picks a wig for her, so to resurrect "Stephanie" and metaphorically kill "Alba". Near the end of the movie, both partners reveal that they "don't know who they are anymore" -- in other words, they can't recognize where the façade ends and the real individual begins. In the last scene, Alba does not just have to choose which man to stay with; she has to make the choice of her entire identity.

Looking critically at all of the characters, there is no one in this movie who is not creating an artificial persona ­- with the only possible exception being the gay hairdresser. He is the one who speaks the truth about Cholo and life at the bordello, while at the same time he is the one responsible for the creation of the false images of Alba and the other prostitutes via their hairstyles, costumes, and makeup. In the film, he dons a life-size mannequin costume of a man and woman in a tango embrace. which allows him to hide his true identity, but also frees him from stereotypical male and female roles. Ironically, it is Cholo who also dons this costume to hide his own identity in a voyeuristic attempt at spying on Zico and Alba in their bedroom.

If you watch carefully, you will notice that there are images of glass and reflections throughout this film, especially windows, stained glass, reflective cabinets, store windows, lights, and mirrors. In my opinion, the glass reflects not the beauty that the characters create (their front), but their true self, the beauty they were born with. In particular, the naked tango scene is danced in front of a stained glass window, and when Cholo explains his philosophy of beauty to Alba, there are multiple mirrors reflecting behind them. While she is physically naked, he is emotionally naked as the true Cholo is revealed. The band always plays blindfolded for Cholo and Alba, so they cannot see the revelation of either partner's true self in the dance, and thus only know the ideal front created by Cholo. During their first tango, Cholo also insists upon blindfolding Alba as well, which serves the same purpose but also forces her to completely submit herself to his lead in the dance and learn to feel the music and the dance through him alone.

When the characters try to maintain their fronts and keep their ideal image intact, they tend to break glass, as in the following examples:

• Stephanie throws the bottle off the ship before taking the place of the suicidal Alba. (In this scene the bottle does not actually break, but the symbolism is there to foreshadow her "christening" her maiden voyage as an independent woman with the brand new identity of Alba.)

• Cholo smashes Alba into the mirror after she attempts to defend herself against him, thus reinforcing his power over her.

• In a feeble attempt to threaten him, Alba throws a liquor bottle at Cholo when he comments about her killing the jeweler as they are dumping the body.

• Cholo throws a vase at the Italian Mafioso in the bordello kitchen, which distracts the man and allows Cholo to regain the upper hand in the fight, and also to preserve face in front of the Black Hand.

• Cholo and Alba have sexual relations in the car on top of the broken auto glass from the shooting outside the bordello. During the scene, Cholo loses his front precisely as Alba calls out his name.

• Alba throws a lamp to set the fire in the hotel in order to escape the bordello and secure her freedom.

In the final scene (in European version of the film), Cholo shoots out the lights before he is fatally shot by the police. For him, this is a last-ditch effort to save face and prevent others from seeing him in a defeated state as he grieves for his ill-fated lover. Although physically clothed, it is at that point where both the true inner Cholo and Alba are completely exposed to the audience as the full extent of their passion is revealed.

Domenica Flor has been a fan of Vincent D'Onofrio's acting work since the inception of "Law and Order: Criminal Intent". Her educational background is in Linguistics and Spanish Literature. She has been active in Ballroom, Latin, Swing, and Argentine Tango dancing for eight years, and has competed in amateur level Equality (same-gender) Ballroom Dance competitions. When not working, dancing, or writing, Domenica can be found drinking coffee, gardening, or perusing the stacks of libraries and independent bookstores. You can reach Domenica Flor by email at domenicaflor@yahoo.com.

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