Dance of Fire

The title of this Argentine film translates literally to Dance of Fire. It is the sometimes profound, sometimes slightly sordid tale of Emilia, (Amelia Bence), a famous concert pianist. As a child, Emilia was sexually assaulted by a circus clown (Enrique Diosdado) while the music of Manuel de Fallas’ “Ritual Dance of Fire” could be heard from the circus tent. Since that time, Emilia has gone into hysterics every time she hears the de Fallas composition. Making matters worse, the lascivious clown is now her business manager. Exploiting Emilia’s fragile emotional state, the ruthless manager dominates the poor girl. An outburst of violence against the manager is not only inevitable, but in the context of the story it’s downright cathartic.