Tony Manero

THis film sneaks up on you - there is something unsettling and powerful about it. The lead performance is raw, real and sad. This guy is a low street thief who has a circle of whores and other lowlifes around him. It doesn't matter if you know a bit about the horrible regime of General Pinochet who was in power when the film is set - 1978 but the movie is a metaphor for this brutal dictator's control of the country - insane behavior creating insane results. The lead guy is obsessed with Travolta's film Saturday Night Fever - he watches it in a movie theatre endlessly - memorizing the dialogue and all of Travolta's moves and dance steps. A Chile TV Variety show has celebrity look-a-like contests and he was to enter and win the Tony Manero contest - white suit and all. This movie feels like a documentary - and there are moments of calm followed by shocking displays of violence. I can see that this film might not be for everyone but I found it to be incredibly powerful. I disagree with the summary on this page though that describes the guy as a "serial killer" - he is not a serial killer - he just makes sure to get anyone out the way who stands between him and his obsession.

Ive been meaning to review this film for years as it has stayed with me from when I first sewed it many years ago.

I think this is a terrifying masterpiece, its underrated, under discussed, and shows the true horror of serial killers instead of the glamorous side of in such films such as Silence of the Lambs or the Tv series Mindhunter.

The connection of the Saturday Night Fever character to a serial is sheer perfection, its bizarre yet truly haunting.

TONY MANERO (dir. Pablo Larraín) The film is set in Chile during the fascist reign of Augusto Pinochet, and focuses on a man who is obsessed with John Travolta's discotheque super-star character in Saturday NIGHT FEVER. This might have been played for laughs, but Pablo Larrain's film is an evil fantasy of disco glory that portrays an obsessive and twisted character who is willing to kill to to fulfill his grotesque vision of acclaim. The frenzied violence in this film is so sudden and inexplicable that it literally takes your breath away. The film seems to present a subtle metaphor that compares the highly stylized nature of disco to the uncompromising fascist posturing of totalitarianism. ABSOLUTE MUST SEE

It is a very interesting Chilean film; it has a strange plot and the acting is good; it is a very bizarre experience.

In the midst of the social context of the Pinochet dictatorship, Raúl Peralta, a man in his 50s, is obsessed with the idea of impersonating Tony Manero, John Travolta's character in the movie "Saturday Night Fever". Raúl leads a small group of dancers, who regularly perform at a bar on the outskirts. Every Saturday night, he unleashes his passion for movie songs by imitating his idol. His dream of being recognized as a successful showbiz star is about to come true when the national TV station announces a Tony Manero impersonator contest. His anxiety to reproduce the idol leads him to commit a series of crimes and thefts.

It is an extremely ambiguous film, at the same time that we feel sorry for the protagonist in the first ten minutes we feel the incredible that pulsates and disgust for its violent and obsessive data, bordering on the sick... A very interesting film with a differentiated approach, obsession for a idol, the dream of pursuing a profession and aggression taking on realistic contours...