Tony Manero (2008)

Director:

Pablo Larraín

Writers:

Mateo Iribarren (written by)
Alfredo Castro (written by)
(more)

Release Date:

28 August 2008 (Chile)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Disco Dancing | Serial Killer | Dancing | Disco | Obsession

Awards:

6 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

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
Jaime Silva	...	Projectionist
Rodrigo Pérez	...	Interrogator 1
Francisco González	...	Interrogator 2
Luis Uribe	...	Contest winner

Directed by
Pablo Larraín

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Alfredo Castro		written by
Mateo Iribarren		written by
Pablo Larraín		written by

Produced by
Juan de Dios Larraín	....	producer
Cao Quintas	....	co-producer

Cinematography by
Sergio Armstrong

Film Editing by
Andrea Chignoli

Production Design by
Polin Garbizu

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
María José Droguett	....	second assistant director

Sound Department
Miguel Hormazábal	....	sound
Isaac Moreno	....	boom operator
Roberto Zuñiga	....	foley artist

Camera and Electrical Department
Carlos Diaz	....	video assist

Other crew
Marzia Milanesi	....	publicist

Production Companies

• Fabula Productions
• Fabula
• Prodigital

Distributors

• Eye Film Instituut (2011) (Netherlands) (theatrical) (Cinema Chile)
• Lorber Films (2009) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Ripley's Film (2009) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Alambique Destilaria de Ideias Unipessoal (2010) (Portugal) (all media)
• Bazuca Films (2008) (Chile) (all media)
• Canana Films (2009) (Mexico) (all media)
• Filmfreak Distributie (2010) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Gryphon Entertainment (2010) (Australia) (DVD)
• Imovision (2009) (Brazil) (all media)
• Kino International (2010) (USA) (DVD)
• Lorber HT Digital (2009) (USA) (all media)
• SOROlla Films (2009) (Spain) (all media)
• Sophie Dulac Distribution (2008) (France) (all media)
• Vendetta Films (2008) (Australia) (all media)
• Vendetta Films (2009) (New Zealand) (all media)

Also Known As:

"Tony Manero" - Portugal
"Tony Manero" - Greece (festival title)

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

Chile | Brazil

Language:

Spanish | English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

France:-12 | UK:18 | Ireland:16 | Argentina:16 | Mexico:C | Chile:14 | USA:TV-MA | Australia:R (2010) | Portugal:M/16 | New Zealand:R18 | Brazil:18 | Netherlands:16

Filming Locations:

Santiago, Chile

Company:

Fabula Productions

Trivia:

This film was shot on Super 16mm and blown-up to 35mm.

Goofs:

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

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.

Movie Connections:

Features Grease (1978)

You should be frantic while watching this one.

If that infamous movie character name of this foreign film's title is dancing very familiarly in your head, you have a good guess on who it is; none other than John Travolta's character in the 70's classic "Saturday Night Fever". So why is Tony Manero dancing now with foreign stars? Well, the character of Tony Manero not only took our nation by storm, but also had profound global awareness in the 70's and thereafter. The movie "Tony Manero" steps its way into the obsessed mind of protagonist Raul Perelta, a middle-aged serial killer residing in 1970's Chile under the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. Perelta has some scary moves by sabotaging anything or anyone who gets in his way in perfecting the embodiment & characterization of Tony Manero. In other words, not many that cross the Peralta pathway are "staying alive" throughout the film's narrative. His premier quest is to dance his way to the top prize in a Chilean TV show's "Tony Manero celebrity impersonation" contest. Director Pablo Larrain and screenwriters Alfredo Castro & Mateo Iribarren formulate the character of Peralta as such a disturbed and repulsive protagonist that it questions "how deep were their thoughts" in the film's developing process. The Raul Peralta character is so repugnant and odious that it automatically disengages one to the film's central narrative. Castro's leading performance as Manero had a severe case of the "thespian broken record syndrome" with its monotone method. If it can have you Mr. Castro, then why not include other similar subpar performances from the film's supporting cast. Now I must admit that I enjoyed a few scenes of "Tony Manero" that paid homage to "Saturday Night Fever" including when Peralta mumbles the lines of Fever in the theatre while watching it countless times, his shock when he first observes that John Travolta's Danny Zuko character in "Grease" is a far cry from Travolta's Manero, and to some degree the film's Manero impersonation contest during the film's climax. But when "Tony Manero" turns into Peralta's maddening ways it deteriorates into a big slap on the face on the Fever legacy. Overall, "Tony Manero" is a feverless 2009 movie odyssey that is not worth taking. *** Average