El Conde: Venice Film Review
Pablo Larrain‘s films are very hit-and-miss with me – I loved Jackie but I disliked Spencer and loathed Ema so I approached El Conde, meaning The Count, with caution and ended up simply liking it.
The dark satire, shot in black and white, imagines Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet (played by Jaime Vadell), a symbol of world fascism, as a 250-year-old vampire who is fed up with living the immortal life and decides to stop drinking blood. His five human children descend up his remote rundown mansion to try to get their hands on their inheritance. To their dismay, Pinochet finds new inspiration to continue living with the arrival of Catholic nun Teresita (Paula Luchsinger), who enters the isolated ranch disguised as an accountant.
The concept is bold and amusing but Larrain fails to capitalise on it or expand the idea much further than the initial premise. A high-concept film often has a lightweight plot and this is very much the case here. I expected it to escalate further or simply do more but it doesn’t and the novelty wears off eventually. The screenplay, which just won a prize at the Venice Film Festival, is darkly funny but it’s largely about Pinochet grumbling about his family and his reputation as he moves around his decrepit mansion – not that much happens.
There are some highlights though. The film is hilariously narrated by a posh English woman (voiced by Stella Gonet) whose identity is revealed near the end. It wouldn’t be fair to spoil the surprise and ruin the fun. Her appearance helped reinvigorate my interest in the movie, which had started to drag, and kick off the final act, which brought it all together in a wild, spectacular and gruesome way.
Mixing gory horror and dark satire, Larrain’s El Conde has a clever premise but doesn’t reach its full potential.
Seen at the Venice Film Festival. On Netflix from Friday 15th September