Tony Manero

Like Germany, Russia and many former eastern bloc countries, Chile has in the last few years been utilising cinema to explore the turmoil of its twentieth century. This, Pablo Larrain’s second feature, is a brutal drama examining the psychological impact of Pinochet’s US backed dictatorship on the life of Raul (co-writer Castro), a middle-aged wastrel and a walking poster for the banality of evil. The Wire creator David Simon recently complained about the cultural “pornographication of the serial killer”, but there’s none of that here as we witness a week in the life of a man whose unnerving obsession with becoming Saturday Night Fever’s disco king (the Tony Manero of the title) goes unnoticed in a society where questions are strictly off limits, and the pursuit of an impossible dream is celebrated on television screens most people have to steal to see. A painfully withdrawn lead performance and the director’s minimalist approach conjure a potent, paranoid atmosphere, the shadow of the secret police and the illusion of the American Dream permeating every frame. Even the winningly performed dance sequences are shot with clammy kid gloves, the threat of violence ever present. As a portrait of a serial killer, only Jaime Rosales’ The Hours of the Day matches it. And if the idea of a sociopath hero-worshipping John Travolta seems far-fetched, bear in mind that Jeffrey Dahmer idolised the Emperor from Return of the Jedi. Tony Manero will be screening at the Filmhouse, Edinburgh from April 10. A Q&A with actor and co-writer Alfredo Castro will take place on Monday 13 April at 18.15.