Augusto Pinochet. One of the most ruthless dictators in the last six decades. From his seizing of power in 1973, to his stepping down in 1990, Pinochet headed a regime drenched in death and torture. Like other infamous figures from history, Pinochet has been the subject of a plethora of works, both serious and satirical, whether it be about the horrifying coup d’état in which he seized power or about the murderous regime itself. Pablo Larraín’s newest film, “El Conde,” falls under the latter group of this camp, with its unique usage of satire. 

“El Conde” focuses on a 250-year-old vampire soldier during the French Revolution named Claude Pinoche who, after faking his death and retreating to Chile, assumes the identity of Augusto Pinochet, becoming the notorious dictator of the country. Several years after faking his death once again, Pinochet is ready to die. 

Jaime Vadell gives a great leading performance as this diabolical character, a decrepit vampire who prefers to be addressed by his close confidants as The Count (hence the title of the film).

Alfredo Castro portrays Fyodor, the longtime Russian assistant to the Pinochets. Castro (who recently gave an excellent supporting performance in Francisca Alegría’s 2022 feature-length directorial debut “The Cow Who Sang a Song into the Future”) gives quite a good supporting performance as this assistant who craves killing. An example of his great performance is a scene with him and Pinochet reminiscing on their years in power.

Easily one of the standout performances of the film comes from Paula Luchsinger, who portrays Carmencita, a nun who is hired to perform an exorcism on Augusto under the guise of being an auditor to examine the finances of the family. A highlight of Luchsinger’s tremendous performance is in the form of a montage in the second act berating the Pinochets for their greed and lack of humanity as she interviews each member of the family (with this montage also including scenes of Pinochet hunting for fresh human hearts).

Pablo Larraín, the film’s director, has crafted a unique experience. Larraín (who has made films on historical figures such as Princess Diana in his previous film “Spencer” and Jacqueline Kennedy in “Jackie”) takes a different approach to this film compared to his last works, examining evil through a satirical lens and the utilization of the horror genre. Along with a screenplay co-written by him and frequent collaborator Guillermo Calderón, Larraín portrays a family of leeches — with the militaristic and bloodthirsty nature of its real-life patriarch transformed into vampiric tendencies, with the latter becoming literal. 

Netflix poster for El Conde (Contributed/IMDb).

The only main issue I have with the film is the pacing, as it starts to stagnate during the second act – although the film does pick up with quite a hilarious twist in the third act.

In terms of the cinematography of the feature, Edward Lachman was the ideal choice for shooting this film, with several long shots of the desolate area where Augusto resides being an example of this. The film is primarily shot in stark black-and-white imagery, which is quite fitting for the subject matter of this feature.

While “El Conde” isn’t Larraín’s best nor most incredible work, it is still quite a compelling and engaging film with a unique premise and great performances. 

“El Conde” is available for streaming on Netflix.

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