El Conde (2023)
Genre: Comedy / Drama
Duration: 110 minuten
Country:
Chili
Directed by: Pablo Larraín
Stars: Jaime Vadell, Gloria Münchmeyer and Alfredo Castro
IMDb score:
6,4 (15.276)
Releasedate: 8 September 2023
El Conde plot
"Things are about to get bloody..."
The dictator Augusto Pinochet turns out to be still alive and has been roaming the earth as a vampire for 250 years. Now, however, it has been fine for the old, but immortal man. He suffers from all kinds of ailments caused by his loss of honor and family quarrels. Pinochet wants to end his life permanently.
Reviews & comments
eRCee
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- 13405 messages
- 1953 votes
As expected, this isn't quite up my alley. I can sympathize with the characters in Larraín's biographical films. In Larraín's darker films, the characters are often not only antipathetic, they are also erratic and difficult to place. That sometimes prevents me from getting into the film. This also applies to El Conde. It's a pity, for example, that the nun remains unclear about her motives for so long. What does emerge very strongly is the unvarnished accusation against Pinochet and his family. Murders and especially financial scams are simply spelled out in concrete terms. It is clever of Larraín that he makes it all fit within the film framework. Except maybe in the first 20 minutes, which really feels like an introduction for the international viewer. Towards the end there is a nice ending with the entrance of Margaret Thatcher as a fellow vampire: "South America"... Furthermore, it is visually a beautiful film, which in this case, it's more about the staging than the cinematography, I think. With a score bursting with classical music, ranging from Purcell to Arvo Pärt. Not very original, but it sounds nice and creates a lot of atmosphere. Ultimately, just another idiosyncratic film by Pablo Larraín, a film with which he concludes his series on the Pinochet era, with some very good ideas and remarkable scenes, which is simply not for me.
Fisico (moderator films)
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- 10000 messages
- 5396 votes
Not that I knew it beforehand, but a new Larrain does pique my interest. A special film, indeed. It can't really be called a biography, because... it doesn't seem very truthful to me. But the film is even more satirical.
How do you get there: portraying dictator Pinochet as a vampire. Well, of course it can count as a metaphor, but in that respect it is a daring and original starting point. But it is especially that comic undertone that makes the film extra stimulating. No cheap humor, but rather subcutaneous and context-bound. The way in which the blood of victims is analyzed, as if it were a glass of wine that you were tasting. Awesome.
While the family members bicker over the inheritance, Larrain suddenly comes up with Pinochet's mother, Margaret Thatcher begot, also a gifted vampire. Well, that comparison would probably have been made in real life in the 1970s. It doesn't seem that far-fetched to me...
Fascinating, but anything but to be taken seriously. Quite atmospheric, too, with those black-and-white images. I also liked the classical music to give the images extra power. Overall successful, but with the necessary nuances.
mjk87 (moderator films)
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- 13973 messages
- 4240 votes
The first fifteen minutes are very nice, a beautiful story and nice images. Then the film turns inward. Literally, because from then on we spend most of our time looking at interior scenes. Visually not very interesting in a bit boring black and white (or rather gray), although the environments still provide quite a bit of atmosphere. No idea where that nomination for best cinematography for the Oscars came from. Especially oppressive. A film of ideas that, as a spectacle, leaves me quite cold. It's fine to do something with symbols, as long as the basis is an enjoyable film, or one that moves or whatever. The pacing is still quite okay so that the film does not become terribly boring, but that is about it. 2.0*.
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