Time: 110 Minutes
Age Rating: 16
Cast:
Jaime Vadell as Augusto Pinochet
Gloria Münchmeyer as Lucía Hiriart
Alfredo Castro as Fyodor
Paula Luchsinger as Carmen
Director: Pablo Larraín

I was curious to watch El Conde ever since I heard that it was made by Pablo Larrian, the director of Jackie and Spencer. I was further interested after it was nominated for Best Cinematography at the Oscars, and I think it was quite a good and unique film.

El Conde is somewhat based on a historical figure, albeit one I’m not familiar with. The subject is a Chilean dictator named Augusto Pinochet, except Larrain portrays and paints him as a literal monster by having him be a long aging vampire. While I am not familiar with him, I could gather that the film was a political satire about him, with vampirism literally draining Chile of money, and all the conversations about money, evil and exploitation. Overall, the screenplay is good. As a satire, there are a lot of surprising tonal shifts and comedy, and the critique of fascism is on point. It does have its issues however, it had moments where it could be convoluted, unfocused and difficult to follow, especially with all the elongated family meetings. Also, the pacing could be off at times. On the whole though, I liked it. The third act has a reveal which is genuinely one of the most hilarious and craziest moments that I have seen from a 2023 film. That said, how you react to it will probably indicate whether or not the rest of the movie works for you. I won’t spoil it for you as it’s best seeing for yourself, just don’t look at the cast/character list.

This movie has some really great performances. Jaime Vadell is good as the count mentioned in the title, and Paula Luchsinger and Alfredo Castro are the standouts in supporting roles.

Pablo Larrain’s direction is great, probably the highlight of the film. The black and white cinematography is downright beautiful, effective at portraying this amazingly cold and sleek setting. Much of the gothic look and feel is similar to classic horror, and a lot of the flying shots are particularly fantastic. El Conde also does well at generating an unsettling atmosphere throughout, and doesn’t hold back on the horror imagery, especially when it comes to the surprising violence.

El Conde is an atmospheric and darkly funny historical/political satire, incredibly directed, visually stunning, and has some great performances.