Tony Manero (2008)

A man is obsessed with John Travolta's disco dancing character from Saturday Night Fever (1977).

Director:

Pablo Larraín

Writers:

Alfredo Castro, Mateo Iribarren

Stars:

Alfredo Castro, Amparo Noguera, Héctor Morales

13 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Alfredo Castro	...	Raúl Peralta
Amparo Noguera	...	Cony
Héctor Morales	...	Goyo
Paola Lattus	...	Pauli
Elsa Poblete	...	Wilma
Nicolás Mosso	...	Tomás
Enrique Maluenda	...	TV host
Marcelo Alonso	...	The Rumanian
Antonia Zegers	...	TV producer
Diego Medina	...	TV producer
Cristián Ordoñez	...	TV security guard
Greta Nilsson	...	Cinema cashier
Marta Fernández	...	Assaulted old lady
Marcial Tagle	...	Glass seller
Freddy Huerta	...	Man with flyers

Storyline

Raúl, a middle-aged, unemployed man, is obsessed by the character Tony Manero, who John Travolta plays in the film "Saturday Night Fever". He tries to imitate Travolta's impersonation in every detail, to be able to perform the most perfect Tony Manero himself. Raúl lives in a shabby house in Santiago. In a spacious room the landlady Wilma has a simple stage, where Raúl and some other tenants rehearse a show in Tony Moreno style. The young performers Goyo and Pauli are involved in underground activities against the Pinochet regime. Goyo gives some political flyers to a man. Raúl tails the man, and happens to see the secret police shooting him. After a while Raúl returns to the corpse, and steals the man's wristwatch. He goes to a junk dealer, where he swaps the watch for some thick glass bricks. He needs these for the stage floor, to be able to light up the show from beneath, just as in the film. In need of more glass bricks, he kills the junk dealer and steals the bricks. In his new ...

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Plot Keywords:

sex | murder | mother daughter relationship | depravity | brutality | 

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Genres:

Drama | Music

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Certificate:

TV-MA

Did You Know?

Trivia

The movie's boasts the DVD tagline "It's murder on the dance floor". Neither the song of the same name sung by Sophie Ellis-Bextor is heard in the film nor is such a death on the dance floor scene actually seen (though there are murders).

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Goofs

The "Members Only" jacket worn by Raul wasn't introduced until 1981, and the film takes place in 1978.

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Quotes

Title Card: [first lines]
Don Enrique: [subtitled version] And now we present our look-alike contest: 'The One O'clock Festival'
Security Guard: Wait here, please.

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Connections

References Jaws (1975)

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Soundtracks

Era solo un chiquillo
Performed by José Alfredo Fuentes
Written by Oscar Caceres and José Alfredo Fuentes

User Reviews

Powerful - Sneaks Up On You

THis film sneaks up on you - there is something unsettling and powerful about it. The lead performance is raw, real and sad. This guy is a low street thief who has a circle of whores and other lowlifes around him. It doesn't matter if you know a bit about the horrible regime of General Pinochet who was in power when the film is set - 1978 but the movie is a metaphor for this brutal dictator's control of the country - insane behavior creating insane results. The lead guy is obsessed with Travolta's film Saturday Night Fever - he watches it in a movie theatre endlessly - memorizing the dialogue and all of Travolta's moves and dance steps. A Chile TV Variety show has celebrity look-a-like contests and he was to enter and win the Tony Manero contest - white suit and all. This movie feels like a documentary - and there are moments of calm followed by shocking displays of violence. I can see that this film might not be for everyone but I found it to be incredibly powerful. I disagree with the summary on this page though that describes the guy as a "serial killer" - he is not a serial killer - he just makes sure to get anyone out the way who stands between him and his obsession.

Details

Official Sites:

Bazuca Films [Chile] Sophie Dulac Distribution [France]

Country:

Chile Brazil

Language:

Spanish English

Release Date:

28 August 2008 (Chile)

Also Known As:

Τόνι Μανέρο

Filming Locations:

Santiago, Chile

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$3,305, 5 July 2009

Gross USA:

$20,677

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$687,406

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fabula Productions, Fabula, Latina Estudio Prodigital

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1