Event

Tony Manero

(Pablo Larran, Chile/Brazil, 2008, 95 min)

Santiago, Chile, 1978: with the country in the grip of Pinochet's oppressive dictatorship, Raul Peralta (Alfredo Castro), a man in his 50s, indulges in the fantasy that he is disco king Tony Manero, John Travolta's white-suited, fleet-footed ladies' man in Saturday Night Fever. Inspired by repeated viewing of the film at his local fleapit, he forms and choreographs a low-rent dance troupe, performing at a rundown bar on the outskirts of the city. His fantasy is becomes a sinister fixation; he seems incapable of keeping his nefarious activities in check. Then national television announces a Tony Manero impersonating competition... Castro's brilliant, suitably dense lead performance as the misanthropic, misguided anti-hero and the inspired handheld filming makes director Pablo Larran's sophomore film a multi-textured, striking work of distinction. Few of this year's films will surprise and elicit reflection like Tony Manero with its juxtaposing of disco and dictatorship.