Hollywood at its best has very occasionally made films of this subtlety and power, so have the French. The reviews here have picked up on some of the symbolism, but not enough: Raul *is* Chile, yes, but Travolta and Saturday Night Fever also symbolise the trashier American values for which Pinochet's Chile murdered democracy in 1973. The symbolism in this film is staring you in the face, and yet at the same time it is not annoying or even obvious! In the tradition of such films of subtlety, the actual physical presence of the regime is very marginal, barely hinted at with one scene with a couple of brutal plain-clothes cops. And in fact the film, oddly, does work perfectly well as a story of an obsessive, murderous maniac. The lead actor has a compelling screen presence, far superior and more convincing, to my way of thinking, than the mannered nonsense of an Al Pacino, for example. Another powerful offering from recent South American cinema, which like so many of these recent films, works on the slow-burn principle, and does it with great artistry.

Tony Manero is without a doubt the worst film I have ever had the misfortune of viewing. What appears at first to be a funny movie about a man obsessed with a disco dancing character from Saturday Night Fever quickly becomes a horrible film about a man who appears to be a serial killer. The main character repeatedly commits crimes that he is never punished for and there are multiple scenes portraying terribly uncomfortable sexual acts between unattractive people. It is not often that the main character in a movie is difficult to like, but in Tony Manero he goes beyond unlikeable. There is not one redeeming quality about him, his actions or even the film as a whole.

This was the most disturbing movie I have ever seen in my entire life. Truly, this is not a movie for the faint of stomach. The thought that a serial killer like Raúl Peralta could be so obsessed with another human being, makes me sick to my stomach. It also makes me wonder how many other people put famous people on a pedestal like he does in this movie. The director, Pablo Larraín seemed to place too much emphasis on nudity, sex, and slander in this film. Is it possible that this is standard for many Latin American films? Better yet, maybe his plan was for this to sharply contrast his personality and the way he acts as himself, and as Tony? Whatever the reason, I believe that the director could have gotten the same message across with less of those disturbing details.

A chilling study in obsession and violence, set against the backdrop of Pinochet's totalitarian Chile in the late '70's. Raul (Alfredo Castro) is a pathological serial killer and amoral petty thief who is obsessed with John Travolta's character from the movie Saturday Night Fever. He watches the film daily and mouths the dialogue, and even tries to copy his mannerisms. As an homage to the film he is also mounting a dance routine in the small cantina where he works. Raul is the type who sees something he wants and takes it by any means possible, whether it be a colour TV or even his girl friend's sexually precocious daughter. He enters a TV competition to find Chile's Tony Manero lookalike, and takes care of one of his rivals in typically nasty fashion. Dressed in his gaudy white suit, Raul looks less like John Travolta and more like a seedy Al Pacino circa Scarface. But his selfish obsession towards these superficial distractions and his willingness to live in an unrealistic fantasy world blind him to the very real perils of Chile, where death squads roam the streets and plains clothes police snatch people off the streets. Raul is a repellent character, and Castro, who co-wrote the film with director Pablo Larrain, makes no attempt to garner sympathy for him. Larrain's direction is restrained and understated, which makes the grim reality of Raul's environment somehow seem more menacing.