El Conde (The Count) is a rather abnormal vampire film… I’d hesitate to even call it horror since it’s so matter-of-fact about its monsters. It’s directed by Pablo Larraín who also directed Jackie (about Jackie Kennedy) and Spencer (about Princess Diana) so OF COURSE he’d make a historical, regional vampire film. It’s also a Netflix movie… the artsy side of Netflix.
The film is about a 250 year old vampire who survives the French Revolution and winds up overthrowing the government of Chile as the very real dictator Pinochet. After his (real life) death, he has to figure out how much money he has left and/or can leave his (non vampire but really kind of vampire) adult children.
Go with me here, but this movies reminds me of Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Not because it’s a ’70s California hangout movie but because it feels like the director working out his demons over a historical tragedy. Tarantino seemed furious about The Manson Family in a similar way to Larraín’s hatred of Pinochet. In both cases, a viewer may be ignorant of the history and come away a little baffled.
My point being, some of this movie may feel removed if you aren’t a Chilean of a certain age. But there’s enough narration and depiction to get the point across… though those in the know will be watching a very different film, perhaps exorcizing their own demons.
And that film is kind of abnormal. It’s stylized black & white, it’s slightly arch, a little cold, and curiously matter-of-fact about taking flight and eating hearts. It IS depicting a monster, but a rather cold and calculating human monster who just happens to be a 250 year old blood sucker. The director is saying a lot about the kind of human who feed off their fellow man (and nation).
The film though takes detours and wanders around a bit and sometimes can’t seem to figure itself out. And I was in the same boat… and yet I was still fascinated and intrigued about how far the film was going and what its ultimate goals were.
El Conde is not a visceral, over-the-top vampire film; it’s a curious, cold, and intellectual one. And yet it’s very bloody but in this estranged, remote kind of way. I don’t think this is for everyone but if you give it a chance and relax into its grip, you might enjoy it. You might also find it slow and pointless… who knows?
Score: 86