Submitted by Panama: Tito, Margot, and Me

If measured pound-for-pound or per-capita, Cuba must be the most imperialistic nation in the world. The late Roberto “Tito” Arias would know. He was caught up in the 1959 ill-fated coup d’etat attempting to overthrow the Panamanian government, backed by Castro. Arias should have known better, especially since he and his wife, British prima ballerina Margot Fonteyn, were such good friends with John Wayne. They led interesting lives, as viewers learn from the documentary, Tito Margot, and Me, co-directed by their niece Mercedes Arias & Delfina Vidal, which Panama has chosen as their official International Oscar submission.

Fonteyn and Arias met at Oxford, where he was studying and she was performing. Sparks would fly, but it was not until fate brought them together again that they stuck for good. Yet, they still often spent months apart, due to his diplomatic appointments and her busy performance schedule. (Fonteyn was always one of the brightest lights of British ballet, but her star rose even higher when she became Rudolf Nureyev’s preferred partner after his defection from the Soviet Union.)

Unfortunately, Fonteyn was in Panama at the time of the aborted coup and sufficiently involved to find herself behind bars, until the British consulate sprung her. Meanwhile, Arias managed to reach Brazil, where he safely waited out the aftermath, before returning to Panama for his successful political comeback. Ironically, with his renewed prominence, Arias was nearly assassinated when a gunman’s bullet paralyzed him from the waist down. The co-directors and their on-camera commentators are rather sketchy when addressing his possible motives, but apparently some suspect he was a jealous husband.

Arguably, that makes Fonteyn’s devotion and diligence caring for Arias thereafter all the more impressive. Although Arias the filmmaker hardly knew her famous relatives, it is clear she wants to present their marriage as a great romance. It might have been more complicated during the early years, but they certainly stayed together through sickness and strife.

At regular intervals, Arias and Vidal incorporate interludes from dancers Maruja Herrara and Valentino Zucchetti that are appropriately evocative of classical ballet, but also sort of represent interpretive dance in the way they reflect emotional drama experienced by the famous couple, at various periods of their lives.

As a result, Tito, Margot, and Me should appeal to the same audience that watched Afternoon of a Faun: Tanaquil le Clercq. In fact, it might even have wider appeal, given the intrigue of Arias’s story. It is a classy package, but it is sometimes rather obvious when it sweeps inconvenient family history under the rug.

Still, it is not often you can find this much elegant dance and ironic Cold War history in a single film. That is why smart people will enjoy it. Recommended for the attention of the Academy’s International Jury, Tito, Margot, and Me is worth looking out for, regardless of its Oscar prospects.