After directing Natalie Portman to an Oscar nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role for Jackie and Kristen Stewart to one for Spencer, Pablo Larraín is now at the helm of something completely different: A gothic satire in which Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet is revealed to be a 250-year-old vampire.
El Conde (The Count) harkens back to Larraín's earlier work — Tony Manero (2008), Post Mortem (2010) and No (2012), which formed an unofficial trilogy of films about life under the Pinochet dictatorship. Now, his latest imagines a parallel universe in which Pinochet (played by legendary Chilean actor Jaime Vadell) decides that, after centuries of fascist reign, he's finally ready to die.
"I was really trying to face him this time," Larraín explained to IndieWire. "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."
Larraín wrote the screenplay for El Conde with regular collaborator Guillermo Calderón. The filmmaker's next project will see him pivot back to reexamining the lives of famous women, with a biopic about renowned opera singer Maria Callas starring Angelina Jolie.
El Conde will debut during the 80th Venice International Film Festival — Larraín's go-to festival since unveiling Post Mortem there — before streaming on Netflix starting Sept. 15. Watch the trailer below.
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