As a general rule of thumb, biopics more often than not decide to tick the same required boxes, but clearly nobody bothered to tell co-writer and director Pablo Larraín when he began putting together El Conde.
The upcoming Netflix original does retell some events from the life of Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet – who ruled between 1973 and 1990 after appointing himself to power – with the noticeable caveat that in this instance, he’s an undead vampire to sustains a millennia-spanning existence by feeding his appetite for evil.
However, at 250 years old, he decides that it isn’t worth it anymore and sets out to try and change his ways before finally allowing himself to shuffle off this mortal plane. It’s a hell of a hook, and in an interview with IndieWire, Larraín explained his unique creative decision.
“I was really trying to face him this time. I don’t think there’s another movie or TV show that has Pinochet as the main character. For a number of reasons, we have not been ready to do it, and I felt that this was a good opportunity to put a camera right on his face. He’s a defeated man because he was called a thief. That’s something in the heart of this movie – a soldier can be called a killer because that’s what they’re trained to do, but never a thief. When Pinochet was accused of stealing money, most of the people who had protected him over the years didn’t know what to say anymore, especially the extreme far right. That broke the sympathy of a lot of people. It’s the first joke of this film.”
Thanks to its stark black-and-white cinematography and fascinating hook, El Conde will be one well worth checking out when it comes to Netflix next month, even if it might be somewhat lacking on the historical accuracy front.