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Art is sometimes not capable enough to convey reality, as in the saying "if it is unimaginable it is real". Just like 9/11 could not have been imagined in a movie, novel or any kind of fiction, the horrors of Chile under the CIA backed Pinochet regime cannot be described or told about adequately in fiction. Maybe a documentary by Patricio Guzmán, Salvador Allende (2004) would be a better choice to grasp the state terror Chile has gone through.Still Tony Manero does have its own merits in describing the era, not only in the body of its lead character Raul, impersonator of John Travolta's character in Saturday Night Fever, but also other people living in this run-down neighborhood. These people are totally lost not only in their poverty but their submission to the fascist state.Raul is a serial killer who kills spontaneously sometimes with no other motivation than stealing a color TV or not liking someone. His only delight in life is to imitate American movie character Tony Manero. Women around admire him but he is impotent, still he tries to have sex. In short he is Chilean majority of that period. And during the whole movie the viewer is expecting a police officer to come in the neighborhood to investigate the killings, but that never happens. He goes unnoticed as there is a much more dangerous and potent serial killer out there!The movie does a great job in setting the mood of the times, pale and shaky. The lead actor is reminiscent of Al Pacino and is quite good, so is overall acting. However the script slightly falters at the end which happens to be Hollywoodean. Obviously this movie does not need an end at all!
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