El Conde, 2023.
Directed by Pablo Larraín.
Starring Jaime Vadell, Gloria Münchmeyer, Alfredo Castro, Paula Luchsinger, Stella Gonet, Antonia Zegers, Marcial Tagle, Diego Muñoz, Amparo Noguera, Catalina Guerra, and María del Rosario Zamora.
SYNOPSIS:
Centers on Augusto Pinochet who is not dead but an aged vampire. After living 250 years in this world, he has decided to die once and for all.
This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strike. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, El Conde wouldn’t exist.
It would be dishonest to pretend I understood every joke in director Pablo Larraín’s El Conde (apparently taking a break from searing character studies of Western political figures, such as Diana Spencer in Spencer, to return to his roots), a fictionalized, metaphorical, satirical version of history where former Chilean president Augusto Pinochet Ugarte is a 250-year-old vampire.
However, the gist is also broad enough to function as a dryly funny, universal takedown about dictators, with some surprising takes on other well-known historical figures. That’s also not to say Pablo Larraín (co-writing alongside regular collaborator Guillermo Calderón) was obligated to make the film accessible to a broad Netflix streaming viewer base, but more that it’s impressive how one can pick up on the basic themes only knowing the historical basics, while also recognizing that there are deeper cuts at play.
Augusto Pinochet suffered a heart attack in 2006, but El Conde proposes he is a vampire who went off the grid. Played by Jaime Vadell, there is a gruesome origin story taking place during the French Revolution, then quickly getting into his rise to power and dictatorship in Chile before settling down into an old-age stretch in a remote village where he pretends to be a victim and is tired of living. He is joined by his wife Lucia (Gloria Münchmeyer) and butler (Alfredo Castro), with his children coming home alongside an accountant (Catalina Guerra) to help locate a sizable portion of missing money from decades of crime.
This is also where Pablo Larraín chooses to hone in on specific elements of this family dynamic, livened up with clever dry humor and striking black-and-white cinematography from Edward Lachman. Again, there are also apparent metaphors regarding how difficult it is to kill fascism, sucking the lifeblood of one’s people and country, and how much like a vampire, the aftermath lingers on for subsequent generations to pick up and pieces back together. Some more specific jokes and bits will speak more directly to a Chilean audience or anyone familiar with this dark chapter in history.
It would also be unfair to say that El Conde is just about putting a warped, gallows humor spin on history because while the middle section can occasionally linger, it’s also certainly building to absolute monster-mash chaos. These ludicrous developments are not just limited to the quarreling family but also involve a British narrator who one can instantly suspect is someone of notable importance. Pablo Larraín is also not afraid to toss in some over-the-top, grotesque violence with stunning makeup effects (there is an early head-smashing sequence that is both graphic and appropriately sets the tone for things to come.)
As for the performance, they are the right amount of satirical blended with intriguing backstabbing drama. Jaime Vadell portrays Augusto Pinochet with no self-awareness and as a pathetic man, whereas Catalina Guerra arguably steals the show as the accountant with ulterior motives. The running themes and jokes might not be able to sustain a running time of nearly two hours, but there is a proper mixture of broadness and specificity, allowing El Conde to soar. It’s also the rare film where the idea alone is ingenious enough to carry the proceedings across its entire running time, covering up some of the blemishes along the way with enough juice, or in this case, blood, to remain effective.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
