“Everything has already been done, every story has been told, every scene has been shot. It’s our job to do it one better.” This quote by the great Stanley Kubrick kept spinning in my head while we were watching Pablo Larraín’s dark comedy, “El Conde”. It isn’t like no one does black-and-white films anymore – in fact, three out of the five films nominated for “Best Cinematography” at the upcoming Oscars feature monochromatic sequences. Not even the satiric vampire story is a novel invention (a nod towards Taika Waititi’s “What We Do in the Shadows”). Yet, this dry comedic feature gave me a feeling that they managed to do it “one better”. What’s so special about the black-and-white world of El Conde then? Let’s find out together. “El Conde” offers the audience a satirical look at the fascist reign of Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet. In the film, he is depicted as a 250-year-old vampire who yearns for death when the atrocities he’s committed finally begin to haunt him. However, he changes his mind halfway through after falling in love with Carmen, a beautiful nun, whom Augusto’s children hired to exorcise and kill their father (under the disguise of auditioning for the family’s wealth). There is also Fyodor, a white Russian servant, who Augusto turned into a vampire, and a sudden appearance of Margaret Thatcher and other plot twists that I don’t want to spoil. Instead, let’s dive into the remarkable cinematography of “El Conde” as discussed with the DP Ed Lachman in a...
Published By: CineD - Wednesday, 6 March, 2024