Jackie and Spencer filmmaker returns with surreal, comic El Conde
Oscar winning filmmaker Pablo Larrain is best known to English language audiences for his portrayal of famous women in history, telling the story of a famous First Lady in 2016’s Jackie, and imagining the torment of a princess in 2021’s Spencer. It’s a famous male leader, however, that becomes the subject of his latest work, the Netflix-produced satire El Conde. Augusto Pinochet, the general and dictator who ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990, died in 2006 at the age of 91.
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In this film, however, it is imagined that the infamous symbol of fascism is a still-living, 250-year-old vampire. Tiring of life with his family and dismayed at the legacy history has given him, Pinochet decides immortality is no longer for him and looks for a way to die. He hires a young accountant who he believes he can trust (Paula Luchsunger), whom he falls for and his many children try to manipulate. However, the accountant’s motives turn out to be just as complicated.
To make one of history’s great monsters a figure of fun is a bold move. Taika Waititi received some criticism for his jovial portrayal of Hitler in Jojo Rabbit, with the New Zealander arguing that ridicule is the best form of revenge. There’s an element of that here, with both Larrain and Chilean star Jaime Vadell making this version of The General a truly ludicrous figure. There are further shades of Waititi in the building of his vampiric background, with visuals reminiscent of What We Do In The Shadows. To say this was affectionate, however, would be to miss the point. One of Larrain’s big hits was 2012’s No, which told the story of the fight to oust Pinochet from office in the 1980s. Instead, this device gives him a chance to look at the ego and ignorance that would create such a person.
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Pinochet is obsessed with how he is viewed by his country, brushing off the various atrocities in a way that would be jarring for a mortal, but in the context of a bloodthirsty vampire is darkly comic. “I liked killing, you liked stealing” a conspirator tells him at one point. “No, I liked the killing, too” he casually replies. As with Spencer, a film introduced as “A fable from a true tragedy”, Larrain uses fantasy to bring reality into sharper focus. Vadell is more than up to the task of making such a despicable character engaging. The guilt you might feel from laughing at Pinochet is allayed by his pathetic state, shuffling along on a walking frame and satisfying his gory craving for blended human hearts. The comic timing in his performance is perfect, and ties together the sky-high concept beautifully. Delivered in eye-catching black and white, and never short on surprises (look out for a certain Iron Lady), El Conde’s surreal nature sometimes hampers the social commentary. However, it does continue the laudable cinema tradition of laughing in the face of horror.