La Chimera
Just out of jail and still searching for his late beloved Beniamina, crumpled English archaeologist Arthur reconnects with his wayward crew of tombaroli accomplices – a happy-go-lucky collective of itinerant grave-robbers who survive by looting Etruscan tombs and fencing the ancient treasures they dig up. Arthur isn’t interested in the artefacts, though; he’s seeking a legendary door to the underworld, and to Beniamina.
- Released:
- Runtime: 130 minutes
- Genre: Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
- Stars: Isabella Rossellini, Josh O'Connor, Alba Rohrwacher, Vincenzo Nemolato, Carol Duarte, Barbara Chiesa, Elisabetta Perotto, Chiara Pazzaglia, Francesca Carrain, Lou Roy-Lecollinet, Ramona Fiorini, Yle Vianello, Carlo Tarmati, Gian Piero Capretto, Giuliano Mantovani, Luca Gargiullo, Luciano Vergaro
- Director: Alice Rohrwacher
Comments
- meinwonderland - 3 July 2024
Il dono di trovare le cose nascoste: The ethereal beauty of La chimera
The enchanting allure of La chimera smoothly treads between myth and romance, where fantasy is no longer unimaginable but a transformative possibility found where the lines between dream and memory are often blurred by formal unpredictability.
Its inheritance of Italian Neorealism and Felliniesque carries within a history of emotion and style. The aesthetics aren't just a choice. They're a statement of timeless beauty. A beauty magnified by the story of Arthur, a looter involved in the black market of historical artifacts with a gift to sense where they are, that channels the grace of an irretrievable past. Josh O'Connor's contrast with the rest of the cast not only enhances the film's fascination with the dreamy yet earthy sublime but also adds elements of mystery and melancholy through the protagonist's barely hinted past.
Alice Rohrwacher's La chimera eventually develops a recognizable shape, but it doesn't sacrifice its artistry, and that's the beauty of it. - FlashCallahan - 16 May 2024
Who's your Chimera?.....
Everyone has their own Chimera, something they try to achieve but never manage to find. For the band of tombaroli, thieves of ancient grave goods and archaeological wonders, the Chimera means redemption from work and the dream of easy wealth.
For Arthur, the Chimera looks like the woman he lost, Beniamina.
To find her, Arthur challenges the invisible, searches everywhere, goes inside the earth -- in search of the door to the afterlife of which myths speak.
In an adventurous journey between the living and the dead, between forests and cities, between celebrations and solitudes, the intertwined destinies of these characters unfold, all in search of the Chimera......
La Chimera is an oddity of a film, fresh fro the dirge that what Challengers, Josh O' Connor excels as Arthur, an almost otherworldly being who may or may not be on the path to purgatory. Or maybe he is already there.
He has lost the love f his life, and all we have to remind her by is a strand of red wool, but that strand is the tree of life for Arthur, and his quest.
But what is his quest. He seems almost defeated throughout the film, wearing bland clothes, eating bland food, and just existing. And that is until meets Italia, a beautiful, mysterious woman, who is working for Isabella Rossellini. The film has many strands, many avenues to explore, and some exploring it may need to take, to truly appreciate this wonderful gem.
You don't get many films as exquisitely mysterious as this. It almost fools the viewer into thinking that it's a number of different films. There were hints, of Wenders, Lynch, and even Burton at some points, but it has its own unique originality to the whole proceeding.
The more I write, the more I ponder the film and its message. It's a haunting piece of cinema, which you grip you, and not release you until the end, even though it's a hardly tense film.
The film has a poetic balance that compliments the narrative, and its rich camerawork. If you have not seen this, I urge you too, it's a masterpiece.
