El Conde follows the story of Augusto Pinochet reimagined as a 250 year old vampire who finally wishes to retire. But the vultures around him won’t let him go without a final bite to the ‘cherry’. The story here is an indulgent black comedy with dollops of satire and elements of horror that does account for a unique watch. Besides, the subject itself is a ‘punch-up’ narrative in a story that did mix the historical events with fiction. The screenplay standing at a shade under 2 hours moves at a leisurely pace but the main attraction here is the reimagination of a recent dictator, that the world knows very little about. Also, Mild Spoilers Ahead including the ending being explained.

The drama does open on a hilarious note, almost opening in the 18th century amidst the French Revolution, with the introduction of a young protagonist who is witness to all the chaos around him. Suddenly, he discovers a fetish of sorts for blood, a trait that is used as a satire in the reels to follow, almost as a representation of a higher official sucking the blood of commoners(simply loved the analogy). For viewers who are keen observers of Geo-Politics doing the rounds even in current times, would be able to equate the beats of the drama with modern times as well. The drama does take a time leap, wherein our protagonist, now a vampire has decided to settle in a ‘kingless’ land which is poor and out of sight with respect to the world politics. The traumatization begins until the writers introduce the first conflict in the drama wherein the protagonist wishes to retire by refraining to drink blood(lol).

The proceedings are a searing commentary on the ideology of a person that so easily rubs on to people around him. The age old saying of ‘As you sow, so shall you reap’ was never more relevant than in this case, with there being multiple stakeholders to the throne, all with vested interests. The mood of the drama begins to get cerebral with the introduction of a couple of interesting characters along the way – Carmencita, an embodiment of opposition who soon wraps herself in the ‘game’ with a hilarious sequence featuring her flying. The other Margaret Thatcher, another popular figure in the political history of the world, the Iron-Lady who did rule the British around the same period as the protagonist had in Chile. The introduction of the latter(as the mother of the protagonist) was a burning statement on how the combination of power can truly be detrimental to the world, while the former also was representative of the new found zing in the aging protagonist, in a hilarious turn of events!

The events leading to the final act are brutal and bittersweet, while also playing up on the black comedy of the film. The character of Carmen firstly brought to a place wherein the protagonist has collected the heads of his other fetishes, cut to her death with Carmen being killed off exactly as Maria, a character whom the protagonist had a crush on, years ago! The final shot of the film might bamboozle many viewers as the stark monochrome quickly breaks into colour. The monochrome did represent the gloom of the country which is put to rest after the retirement of the protagonist, with the screen breaking the hues of different shady colours. Yet, the final shot of a young Margaret dropping her son(who is none other than the protagonist himself) is a mere representation that ideologies do not die, instead they are compounded and spread over generations. The screenplay might seem a little too indulgent but if you are keen to penetrate through its layers and absorb its commentary while also wishing to read about the real-life dictator, then you will thoroughly be invested in the drama.