Augusto Pinochets True Story Is Bloodier Than El Condos Vampire Version
The Big Picture
- El Conde takes the legend of vampires and merges it with the history of real-life Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, creating a satirical comedy that comments on his dark reign.
- The film highlights Pinochet's rise to power, his ruthless rule, and the massive human rights abuses that occurred under his regime, including the death of thousands of people.
- El Conde also comments on Pinochet's controversial relationship with Margaret Thatcher, who serves as the narrator of his life story and is depicted as his vampire mother. It explores the UK's support for Pinochet and its involvement in the Falklands War.
The existence of real vampires has always been questioned and debated. From 1922’s Nosferatu to 2023’s Renfield, the blood-thirsty creatures have also been staple figures in fantasy horror films. Pablo Larraín’s Chilean Netflix movie El Conde takes the legend of the creatures one step further by merging history with fiction to put the real-life Chilean dictator, Augusto Pinochet Ugarte, in the shoes of an immortal vampire. By doing so, Larraín not only presents a compelling world but also delivers a satirical comedy that comments on one of the darkest periods in Chile. Obviously, not everything presented in El Conde is true to history, especially the parts where the protagonist is seen feeding on young victims to satiate his thirst. However, the Netflix film takes inspiration from real-life events in plenty to present a twisted take on one of the most dreaded modern leaders.
In El Conde, before setting his eyes on becoming the leader of Chile, Augusto Pinochet was a young soldier in the army of Louis XVI. After witnessing the cruel treatment meted out to his beloved nobility during the French Revolution, he decided that he would suppress all future revolutions. Being a vampire surely helped his cause. After faking his death and disappearing from France, Pinochet appears in Chile to take control of the land. Masterminding his own ascent, he then led a military coup to remove the Chilean President Salvador Allende from power and take over as the unopposed leader of Chile. After a successful reign during which he amassed immeasurable wealth and power, he decides to fake his own death once again when his time for retirement finally arrives. Now, Pinochet is a man waiting for his death – something he truly finds difficult to achieve, thanks to his vampirism and subsequently, immortality. Hereon, much of what is shown delves into the territory of fiction but the film continues to hint at significant real-life events from the life of the real-life counterpart of Augusto Pinochet.
Who Is the Dictator That Inspired 'El Conde's Protagonist?
The vampire Augusto Pinochet in El Conde is inspired by the real-life Chilean dictator of the same name who came into power in 1973 and ruled over the country till 1990. A staunch opposer of communism, General Augusto Pinochet is said to be responsible for the death of 3,065 people, many of whom were never found. Although El Conde captures the ruthlessness of his reign through the portrayal of the dictator as a vampire, there are some other details that are purely imaginary about the character. For instance, Augusto Pinochet wasn’t born in France. Instead, he was born in Valparaíso, a major Chilean city, in 1915. In 1931, Pinochet’s association with the military began when he joined the Military School in Santiago. He married his wife, María Lucía Hiriart Rodríguez (played by Gloria Münchmeyer in El Conde) in 1943. Over the years, Pinochet’s military prowess helped him rise through the ranks, and by 1971, Allende appointed Pinochet the General Commander of the Santiago Army Garrison. Amidst rising turbulence and opposition within the country, Pinochet was appointed commander-in-chief of the Chilean Army in August 1973.
With the support of Richard Nixon’s government, the conditions were ripe for the overthrow of Allende’s socialist government. In what’s touted as “the other 9/11”, on September 11, 1973, General Pinochet, along with other officers of the armed forces, ousted Allende’s government and established a military junta. Allende chose to rather kill himself than be a prisoner in Pinochet’s regime. Interestingly, the last journalist who interviewed Allende, the Canadian Jean Charpentier, was nicknamed “The Count” – the same moniker that Pinochet preferred to be called in private, according to El Conde. Although it’s been established that Allende’s death was indeed a suicide, this minor detail may hint indirectly toward Pinochet’s role in Allende’s death.
Augusto Pinochet's Reign Involved Massive Bloodshed
Originally, each one of the members of the military junta was supposed to hold a presidency. But the plans changed when Pinochet quickly consolidated power and declared himself the President of Chile on December 17, 1974. A new constitution was put in place by Pinochet’s government which mandated a single-candidate presidential referendum. Pinochet’s rise to power was marked by a ruthless rule. The number of people who were exiled and tortured during Pinochet’s regime was found to be in the thousands. In 2011, a Chilean commission formalized to investigate human rights abuses under General Pinochet recognized 40,018 victims of the General’s rule. Pinochet was indicted in 2002 for employing a Chilean death squad, known as “Caravan of Death”, which flew over Chile in helicopters, killing nearly a hundred people, shortly after the coup. One of the most notable atrocities under Pinochet, among thousands of others, came in the form of the death of 21-year-old American photographer Rodrigo Rojas DeNegri, who was burnt alive allegedly by the military.
Near the end of his reign, Pinochet started facing immense opposition from all fronts, forcing his hand to call for a vote that would determine the longevity of his rule. After losing the vote, Pinochet tried to seek the junta’s help to create chaos in Chile and find a reason to yield power but he was forced to give way to Presidential elections in the country. Finally, Patricio Aylwin was elected the 30th president of Chile and in 1990, Chile transitioned to democracy again. A major part of El Conde focuses on Pinochet’s post-dictatorship life although it’s a bit far from reality. In the film, Pinochet fakes his death to avoid judicial scrutiny for the crimes carried out under his regime. Interestingly, during the time of his death, Pinochet actually faced charges in multiple cases rooted in the human rights violations meted out under him.
'El Conde' Highlights Margaret Thatcher's Relationship With Pinochet
Larraín also used El Conde to comment on the controversial relationship Pinochet shared with the first female British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, who serves as the narrator of Pinochet’s life story and turns out to be his vampire mother. On coming into power, Thatcher’s Conservative government took multiple measures to restore relations with Chile, including lifting the arms embargo in 1980 and participating in official visits to Chile. To help Pinochet’s regime, the UK withdrew its support from a 1980 UN General Assembly resolution condemning the human rights violations under Pinochet. UK’s love for Pinochet was majorly rooted in the Chilean support of the country during the Falklands War.
In 1998, Pinochet was indicted for human rights violations by a Spanish magistrate, applying the principle of universal jurisdiction. Six days later, Pinochet, who was traveling for medical treatment, was arrested in London and placed under house arrest. During his time in house arrest, Thatcher was one of the most vocal opponents of the dictator's arrest. She even met Pinochet at his house – an event depicted in the film. In El Conde, this meeting resulted in Thatcher’s realization that the former Chilean president was none other than her son whom she abandoned centuries ago. In fact, Thatcher even sent a bottle of fine malt to Pinochet, with a note saying, “Scotch is one British institution that will never let you down,” taking a dig at the unfair arrest of the man she unabashedly supported. El Conde’s depiction of Thatcher as Pinochet’s mother is an interesting commentary on the very interesting relationship the two former political leaders shared.
In March 2000, Pinochet was finally released from house arrest and returned to Chile. Even at home, Pinochet continued to face trouble. For some time, Pinochet enjoyed immunity from prosecution for his crimes. Pinochet’s life from his release in 2000 to his death in 2006 was marked by multiple trials on various accounts of murder, kidnapping, and torture. Eventually, Pinochet was stripped of his immunity and charged on multiple grounds in various cases, including the Caravan of Death case. On November 26, 2006, a house arrest was ordered for the Chilean dictator but he died a few days later on December 10 without being convicted for any of his crimes.
El Conde’s climax which portrays Pinochet escaping with his mother to a new life somewhere distant potentially highlights the fact that Pinochet, a man responsible for innumerable deaths, escaped without paying significantly for his crimes. Through El Conde, Larraín imagines the ruthless Chilean dictator as a man who gathered unprecedented power through brutal and inhuman measures, almost becoming invincible on the way. While the brutality of Augusto Pinochet’s actions in El Conde gets diluted by the film’s fantasy elements, the real-life Augusto Pinochet perpetrated horrors unbelievable even for a film.
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