Adapted from the long-running stage play by Venezuelan playwright José Ignacio Cabrujas, El día que me quieras is a complex film that deals with failed idealism cloaked in Latin myths. The film is set in 1935 Caracas, one of the last stops made by legendary Argentine tango singer Carlos Gardel before his fatal plane crash while on a triumphant return to his homeland. The time frame of the film also encompasses the last year in office of Venezuelan dictator Juan Vicente Gomez, a period when South America's political climate was rife with change. The story revolves around the Ancizar family and its three female members-with direct references to Chekhov's The Three Sisters-whose lives are all changed by Gardel's visit to their home. Argentine actor Claudio Berge is amazing in his recreation here of Gardel, whose mythlike presence permeates the entire film, whether he is crooning tangos (dubbed from original Gardel recordings) or being the suave caballero, which sometimes has humorous results. In contrast to Gardel is the avowed Marxist Pio Miranda (Fausto Verdial), whose long-range plans include moving with one of the sisters to a blissful life in the Ukraine. The two images of hope (romantic and political) are brought together where they overlap and clash, exposing the lies, dreams, hopes and disillusionment of an era on the eve of change. --Paul Lenti