“El Conde”, interview with director Pablo Larraín and producer Juan de Dios Larraín

September 3, 2023

Pablo Larraín, director of "El Conde": "People like Pinochet see themselves as saviors, as someone who can change the fate of a nation".

"El Conde", interview with director Pablo Larraín and producer Juan de Dios Larraín Chiara Nicoletti

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“Impunity made him eternal and that eternity is the vampire”, this is how director Pablo Larraín explain the genesis of his 10th film, “El Conde“, presented in competition at the 80th Venice International Film Festival. After Jackie and Spencer, also premiered in Venice (and Ema) Larraín goes back to depicting his Chile as the film imagines general and dictator Augusto Pinochet as a vampire in an existential crisis where he must decide if it is worth continuing his life as a vampire, drinking the blood of his victims, and punishing the world with his eternal evil. Through the language of satire and political farce, the film manages to not infuse empathy or compassion towards a dictator who never faced justice for his crimes. As producer Juan de Dios Larraín points out, they hope the film will show people what kind of things should never happen again since it is an allegorical reminder of why history needs to repeat itself in order to remind us of how dangerous things can become.

Plot

El Conde is a dark comedy/horror that imagines a parallel universe inspired by the recent history of Chile. The film portrays Augusto Pinochet, a symbol of world fascism, as a vampire who lives hidden in a ruined mansion in the cold southern tip of the continent. Feeding his appetite for evil to sustain his existence. After two hundred and fifty years of life, Pinochet has decided to stop drinking blood and abandon the privilege of eternal life. He can no longer bear that the world remembers him as a thief. Despite the disappointing and opportunistic nature of his family, he finds new inspiration to continue living a life of vital and counterrevolutionary passion through an unexpected relationship.

Written by: Chiara Nicoletti

Jackie Spencer