Screen/Society--Film in Theory--"Tony Manero"
Film Screening: "Tony Manero" (Pablo Larraín, 2008, 97 min, Chile/Brazil, in English and Spanish w/ English subtitles, Color, Digital) / As Augusto Pinochet holds Chile in the grip of dictatorship, a 50-year-old man obsessed with John Travolta's character from "Saturday Night Fever" imitates his idol each weekend in a small bar on the outskirts of Santiago. Each weekend, Raúl Peralta and his friends -- a devoted group of dancers -- gather in a small bar and act out their favorite scenes from "Saturday Night Fever." Raúl longs to become a showbiz superstar, and when the national television announces a Tony Manero impersonating contest it seems like he may finally have a shot at living his dreams. But as Raúl is driven to commit a series of crimes and thefts in order to reproduce his matinee idol's persona, his dancing partners (also underground resistance fighters who rail against the regime) are persecuted by the secret police. / -- Winner of 15 Film Awards! / "Larrain's (literally) dark, edgy movie is a precise artistic commentary on Augusto Pinochet's miserable regime, which was under way while Travolta gyrated." - Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly / "Shot with a hand-held camera and presented in a fragmented scenario, "Tony Manero" is the director's compelling attempt to find parallels between the Pinochet reign of terror and Raúl's scruple-less antics." - V. A. Mosetto, New York Post / Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaX2bavetsA