PopSyndicate.com

When this film first showed up on my radar screen, I had a preconceived notion that it would be a delightful and charming comedy about a wannabe living somewhere in the British countryside. You know, one of those Waking Ned Devine meets The Full Monty flicks. I was partially right – it is a about an aspiring dancer, but instead of a lighthearted romp, it’s as serious as a heart attack.

The year is 1978 and Chile is under the iron grip of Dictator Augusto Pinochet (remember Missing?). Fifty-something Raúl Peralta (Alfredo Castro looking like Al Pacino’s sullen brother) is not interested in politics; he lives and breathes for only one reason. He yearns to embody John Travolta’s character in Saturday Night Fever; he’s obsessed with Tony Manero. He spends countless hours going to the local cinema watching the film over and over again – mouthing the dialogue, mimicking the dance moves.

The reality however, is much bleaker. Raúl is the lead dancer of a rag-tag group that performs the disco dance moves in a small bar on the outskirts of Santiago. Not unlike the characters from Saturday Night Fever, Tony Manero’s Raúl is a legend in his own domain – but out on the streets he is a scary loser, striking out with uncontrollable fury. 

The audience is initially sympathetic towards Raúl, as he mistakenly shows up at a TV station anticipating a Tony Manero dance contest only to learn that it was actually Chuck Norris week. Although he is revered by the bar owner and other dancers, we watch in horror as he indiscriminately kills for small personal gain.

Grittily directed by Pablo Larraín, his second feature barely disguises it’s representation of Chile of the late 70’s using the historical framework of the Pinochet era. The protagonist is wretched character; a murderer with a lack of conscience reflecting the country under a dictatorship, with very little hope for the future.

Tony Manero made its world premiere at the Director’s Fortnight in Cannes 2008 and has since garnered several awards including Best Actor for Alfredo Castro at the Havana Film Festival (with that name, how could he lose?). As Chile’s 2009 Academy Awards official submission to Foreign-Language Film category, it’s a very edgy, unHollywood selection.

And as far as recommendations – leave the kiddies at home. Worse then the sex scenes, (which are anything but erotic) is the main characters lack of a moral compass. That is infinitely more disturbing and as it opens on Halloween eve – much scarier.

3