Tony Manero is a 2008 Chilean drama film directed by Pablo Larraín about a 52-year-old man in Santiago in 1978 who is obsessed with John Travolta's character in Saturday Night Fever. It won the top prize at the 2008 Torino Film Festival and was Chile's submission to the 81st Academy Awards for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. In 2009 it won the Golden Tulip at the Istanbul International Film Festival.
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Plot
This film follows a man in his fifties who is obsessed with the character Tony Manero, portrayed by John Travolta in the movie Saturday Night Fever. He dedicates himself to imitating Manero's mannerisms and elaborate dance moves.
Set in Santiago, Chile during the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, filmmaker Pablo Larraín makes a deliberate effort to depict the decadence, violence, and darkness of the era.
Raúl Peralta is the main character of the film, a man of simple speech whose primary concern is faithfully embodying his idol, Tony Manero. He lives in a run-down boarding house that has a small stage used for rehearsing dance routines, including the main choreography from the American movie.
The film begins with Peralta attempting to participate in a contest on a popular television program called Festival de la Una. Each week the program seeks "the double of" a particular celebrity, and this time they are looking for the double of Tony Manero.
Peralta's efforts to emulate his idol and win the contest unfold through a bifocal lens, which shows both the character's lack of scruples and the harsh reality of his environment.
Cast
Alfredo Castro – Raúl Peralta
Paola Lattus – Pauli
Héctor Morales – Goyo
Amparo Noguera – Cony
Elsa Poblete – Wilma
Marcelo Alonso – Rumano
Maité Fernández – María
Antonia Zegers – Productora TV
Marcial Tagle – Vidrero
Rodrigo Pérez – Agente CNI 1
Pancho González – Agente CNI 2
Luis Uribe – Enrique
Greta Nilsson – Cajera
Enrique Maluenda – TV host
Reception
The film holds an 84% approval rating from the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 38 reviews. The website's consensus reads, "Deliberately provocative, Tony Manero is as challenging and compelling as it is difficult to describe."
DVD releases
The film has been released on DVD in several countries. Region 2 DVDs were released in 2009 by Network in the U.K. and Ripley's Home Video in Italy, and an unrated region 1 DVD was released in 2010 by Kino International.