MOVIE OF THE WEEK March 29, 2024: LA CHIMERA
Love and contentment are as elusive as an undisturbed Etruscan tomb in Alice Rohrwacher’s piquant dramedy La Chimera. As it tells the story of a merry group of Italian grave robbers — known as tombaroli — and the inscrutable Englishman who leads them to the caches of objects they happily sell to the highest bidder, the film examines the allure of pursuing something that always seems just beyond your grasp.
That, in fact, is exactly what a “chimera” is, according to the dictionary definition: “a thing that is hoped or wished for but in fact is illusory or impossible to achieve.” For Arthur (Josh O’Connor), who’s just out of prison, the chimera is both the dream of discovering an untouched tomb full of ancient artifacts and the companionship of the beautiful Beniamina (Yile Yara Vianello), whom he longs for but who is, in a way that’s long implied but not fully explained, unreachable.
Arthur is welcomed by Beniamina’s lovingly querulous mother, Flora (Isabella Rossellini), who’s a demanding charge for music student/housekeeper Italia (Carol Duarte) — who suffers Flora’s imperiousness for her own personal reasons. Arthur’s fellow tombaroli are also glad to see him back, especially since he has a particular gift for finding graves for them to investigate. He seems willing to help them, even when it means standing up to mysterious local fence Spartaco, but his heart also isn’t really in it anymore (if it ever was). He’s drawn to the thrill of the hunt, but he never quite finds what he needs.
Rohwarcher (whose previous films include the loosely related The Wonders and Happy as Lazzaro) approaches the story of La Chimera with a sure hand, deftly mixing moments of fancy and imagination with the scruffy authenticity of the tombarolis’ free-wheeling existence. She elicits a nuanced performance from O’Connor, whose Arthur seems always on the brink of a life that could be happy and satisfying but isn’t willing to settle for anything less than destiny.– Betsy Bozdech
Team #MOTW’s comments:
Loren King Magical and fantastical, yet full of sadness, truth and whimsy, Alice Rohrwacher’s La Chimera is a gift to cinema. From her masterpiece, 2018’s Happy as Lazzaro to her playful, Oscar nominated 2022 short Le Pupille, Rohrwacher has shown she’s one of the most original filmmakers working today. Josh O’Connor anchors the film as the Italian speaking “tall Brit” who, released from a short prison stint, returns to his motley crew of grave robbers in central Italy. Working with her regular cinematographer Hélène Louvart, Rohrwacher creates a world both gritty and otherworldly as the con men dig up and then sell once-sacred objects from the Etruscan era. Rohrwacher’s deft blend of humor and grief, realism and fantasy, puts La Chimera on a par with Fellini.
Pam Grady: Arthur (Josh O’Connor) has a peculiar talent. An Englishman living in Italy with precious few ties save for Flora (Isabella Rossellini), the mother of his lost love, he uses a dousing stick to find not water but Etruscan antiquities. The activity makes him and his Italian accomplices grave robbers, not that his compatriots care. They’re just in it for the money. But Arthur’s motives are murkier and more nuanced and in Alice Rohrwacher’s offbeat drama that gives witness to the obsession from which he seems to derive only sadness. Yet, he remains single minded in his pursuit, not even Italia (Carol Duarte), a new woman in his life, can divert his attention for long. There are shades of Fellini in the sometimes surreal mise-en-scène, but Rohrwacher’s story is wholly original, gorgeously shot by Hélène Louvart, and imbued with a soul, thanks to O’Connor’s committed performance as a man whose existence hovers somewhere between life and death.
Nell Minow: La Chimera combines the elements of a romance, a heist film, a poignant character study, and a story of a lost character finding redemption and connection and makes it work by maintaining a consistent tone that is almost poetic.
Nikki Fowler: Josh O’Connor is fantastic as the emotionally torn and displaced excon, Arturo, in this wildly comical and eclectic masterpiece La Chimera’ This Italian Neon Rated drama and somewhat romcom is giving circus roadshow x vagabond tomb raiding thieves as we follow a group of misfit but spiritual tombaroli or Etruscan tomb raiders, with Arturo possessing a special talent in finding buried treasure troves with a divining rod. La Chimera has delightful cinematography with flipped screens and actors breaking the Brechtian-esque fourth wall and it’s not short on humor, emotions and drama. From maximalist layered sets, color palate pleasing costumes and stellar direction and production, La Chimera will ignite all of your film loving senses and thrill you with love, loss, and the lines between the living and the dead.
Leslie Combemale In La Chimera, Josh O’Connor’s Arturo appears in a filthy white suit, which is a strong hint he is traveling a path that straddles life and death. Is he grieving, or is there something more metaphysical at play? Viewers will have to decide for themselves. Either way, the laconic, enigmatic lead character feels very archetypal. Rohrwacher’s style is both subjective in the extreme, and distant enough for audiences to see themselves in him or another of the film’s characters. Even as it meanders through its two hour+ running time. there’s way more than what meets the eye here, and that’s what makes La Chimera so compelling,
Jennifer Merin Alice Rohrwacher’s La Chimera is a thoroughly delightful and engaging tragicomic thriller romcom mashup that takes us to Tuscany to follow a disparate band of ne’er do well graverobbers who excavate Etruscan antiquities and sell them illegally to nefarious art dealers and collectors. The story centers on Arturo (Josh O’Connor), an English-Italian archeologist who has a remarkable talent for locating treasure with a divining rod. Arturo is recently released from prison and is suffering from depression about his circumstances. He is reluctant to resume divining. But he does, and the ensuing plot is ripe with tomb raider rivalry, encounters with authorities and a not-so-little romance. The film is exquisitely crafted and Alice Rohrwacher’s storytelling style is inimitably charming. La Chimera is the third film in a loosely themed Rohrwacher trilogy, following the memorable The Wonders (2014) and Happy As Lazzaro (2018).
Sandie Angulo Chen: In director and co-writer Alice Rohrwacher’s highly stylized, metaphysical tragicomedy La Chimera, Josh O’Connor is excellent as Arthur, an archaeologist-turned-grave robber with uncanny powers to tell where Etruscan treasures are buried in Tuscan soil. The movie is a fascinating take on the black market of illegally acquired ancient artifacts but also, to quote Hamilton, “who lives, who dies, who tells your story.” Part thriller, part comedy, part melancholy love story, this genre-bending movie is difficult to summarize but easy to admire. Rohrwacher is a memorable storyteller, and she coaxes brilliant performances from her diverse ensembles; in addition to O’Connor, Isabella Rosselini, Carol Duarte, and Alba Rohrwacher are all fabulous.
Liz Whittemore Josh O’Connor stars in filmmaker Alice Rohrwacher’s romantic period drama. Freshly out of jail, Arthur returns to his hometown in search of hidden artifacts and a way back to the lost love of his life. La Chimera shines in its intoxicating camera work and the astonishing chemistry between Carol Duarte and Josh O’Connor. The natural rhythm of their relationship is such a lovely watch. Duarte is the only cast member who occasionally steals scenes from her co-star. She deliciously walks a tightrope of caricature and eccentricity. I would watch a spinoff film centering on Italia any day.
Cate Marquis In Alice Rohrwacher’s romantic, Felliniesque, tragicomic adventure tale La Chimera, an English archaeologist-turned-“pot-hunter” named Arthur (Josh O’Connor) leads a merry band of grave robbers who plunder ancient Etruscan tombs, eking out a meager living selling the stolen artifacts to collectors. Arthur uses a dowsing rod to find the hidden tombs but really seems guided by an otherworldly sense that connects him to the graves and causes him to often collapse when he gets close. Arthur is a man of two worlds, a kind of chimera, who is haunted by the memory of his lost love Beniamina (Yile Vianello). In his sorrow, he visits her mother Flora (Isabella Rossellini), a former opera star living in a crumbling mansion who ekes out her living teaching singing to students she treats like servants. Arthur tells Flora he is still searching for her daughter, even though he knows she’s dead. Director/writer Alice Rohrwacher weaves a magical, almost fable-like tale, in this magical film filled with wonderful performances, as she takes us on a series of adventures, while sometimes moving us from this world to that of the dead, until finally delivering us to just the right ending.
FILM DETAILS:
Title: La Chimera
Director: Alice Rohrwacher
Release Date: March 29, 2024
Running Time: 130 minutes
Language: Italian with English subtitles
Screenwriters: Alice Rohrwacher
Distribution Company: Neon Rated
AWFJ Movie of the Week Panel Members: Sandie Angulo Chen, Betsy Bozdech, Leslie Combemale, Nikki Fowler, Pam Grady, Loren King, Cate Marquis, Jennifer Merin, Nell Minow, Sherin Nicole, Liz Whittemore
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Edited by Jennifer Merin
