‘El Conde’ Review: Pablo Larraín’s Latest Is A Bold, Wildly Irreverent Sensational Creation – Venice
deadline.comPablo Larraín’s string of mostly 20th century biographical dramas hits a pinnacle of audacious brilliance with El Conde (The Count), a madly inspired reinvention of events embedded in the notion that longtime Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet became a vampire who ultimately tires of life and wants out after living some 250 years.
After playing it relatively straight and serious in their biopics of Princess Diana, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Pablo Neruda, the director and his shrewd and brilliant playwright collaborator Guillermo Calderón let their imaginations go wild (albeit rigorously so), and return with a sensational creation overflowing with a rush of startling notions that put this alternative look at a sinister ruling family on a top shelf all its own.
Smart audiences worldwide will devour this bold, wildly irreverent take on its insidious subjects. After its festival debuts at Venice and Telluride, the film will make its Netflix home screen bow on September 15.
While it’s likely that veering too far off the known track of historical events concerning the much loved and admired Diana and Jackie would have not been advisable, the same perhaps does not apply to the pivotal figure here, the much reviled army officer, Augusto Pinochet Ugarte.
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