LA CHIMERA (TIFF 2023) – Review by Rachel West
Move over, Indiana Jones, there’s a new tomb-raiding archaeologist in town in Alice Rohrwacher’s madcap Italian tragi-comedy, La Chimera.
A genre-blending fantasy-romance-comedy set in the 1980s, La Chimera is full of folkloric Italian charm, blending past and present like Rohrwacher’s previous films, Happy As Lazarro and The Wonders. The decidedly non-Italian Josh O’Connor is the film’s star, an Englishman filled with grief after he loved and lost Beniamina. Returning to her Tuscan village in search of a fabled gateway that unites this world and the next, we learn Arthur has a knack for finding Etruscan treasures and flipping them for profit via a shady dealer. With the ragtag group of tombarolis – quirky Fellini-esque graverobbers who would seem more at home on the stage – Arthur wanders the countryside as a tragic folk hero searching for answers in an increasingly grubby cream-coloured linen suit.
Writer-director Rohrwacher imbues the film with her unique style that feels loose and luxurious. Like the mythical chimera composed of incongruous body parts, the film is a gorgeous blend of style and substance. The story clips along with fast-motion sequences and silent film techniques which paint a truly original picture. Director of Photography Hélène Louvart plays with visuals and aspect ratios using 35mm, 16mm and Super 16 while editor Nelly Quettier brings further oddball energy to the the screen with jump cuts against a soundtrack of infectious Italian rock, folk, and electro-pop.
Each of the film’s characters has their own mythical chimera – that which try as they might, they never find. For Arthur, that is his beloved Benaimina. O’Connor is simply marvellous as the treasure hunter caught between two worlds, both emotionally and physically. He is an outsider balancing life in the Italian countryside, fascinated by the graverobbing gang of locals that he seems to lead but is never truly a part of. At first glance, Arthur seems to be the typical Englishman but on closer inspection, just like his linen suit, he’s frayed around the edges. He is a man adrift in his own life but is never made overly sentimental about the past, despite how much time he spends immersed in it.
With nods to Italian cinema greats Fellini and Pasolini among others, it’s incredibly wonderful to have the radiant Isabella Rossellini as the loveable but meddlesome family matriarch, Flora. Surrounded by a gaggle of her remaining daughters, she is witty and sharp beyond what she lets on as she hangs onto the belief her dear Benainmina will return. Following her wondrous voiceover work in Marcel The Shell With Shoes On, it’s a crime Rossellini isn’t landing more prominent roles.
Though the story may feel disorderly, by the time La Chimera reaches its conclusion, it’s nearly impossible to not be charmed by the characters. For a plot steeped in longing for the past, Rohrwacher’s masterful vision is nothing but joyous.
