Pablo Larrain is difficult to classify. The Chilean filmmaker is not a horror director, nor especially brooding or joyless, but themes and tones of horror often creep into his work. Several of his earlier films are set against the backdrop of the Chilean military dictatorship, often from the point of view of eccentric and relatively apolitical people a morgue worker (Post Mortem), an obsessive John Travolta impersonator (Tony Manero), a slick ad man (No). His muses since then have included disgraced Catholic clergy (The Club) and a bloodstained Jackie Kennedy (Jackie). 2021’s Spencer depicted Christmas with the British royal family from Princess Diana’s eyes, in somewhat the way Clarice Starling might see Hannibal Lecter and Buffalo Bill.
A shadowy figure emerges from the screen, leaping across the cloudy skies. His silhouette, styled with a gothic cape and oversized collars, closely resembles that of the infamous Count Dracula a vampire on the lookout for his next victim. The audience watches the gruesome details of this hunt. Helpless Chileans are stabbed in the.
Cinematographer Ed Lachman doesn’t often work with new directors, but for someone he considers “the most important filmmaker in South America,” he’ll make an exception. El Conde marks the first collaboration between Lachman and Chilean filmmaker Pablo Larraín, but Lachman had followed his career dating back to his Pinochet trilogy: Tony Manero (2008), Post Mortem
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