THE ACTIONS OF the murderous Chilean dictator General Augusto Pinochet have haunted several of Pablo Larraín’s films, but El Conde is the first time the director has actually put him on screen. This is no biopic. Larraín imagines Pinochet as a vampire who faked his own death so he could escape retribution. Now longing for death that won’t come, Pinochet contemplates his place in history while his family plots against him and an undercover nun tries to destroy him. Larraín guides us through the most memorable moments of a film that’s part political satire, part Hammer-esque horror and part warning for the future.
THE VAMPIRE
Even in an absurdist satire, Larraín was careful not to make Pinochet too comic. From the moment we meet Pinochet, the framing is “very straightforward” to avoid warmth. Larraín says, “This movie can’t have compassion for Pinochet. That could not be tolerated. You have to create distance and avoid any form of empathy. Satire as a tone allows us to see him but not make him a conventional hero. We also needed to create a tone that could create a smile where you don’t show your teeth; that makes you nervous in a way.”