Our take
La Chimera is often meandering. Scenes flitter about and move at different paces, resembling dreams more than they do reality, but they’re hardly trivial. Just the opposite, they enchant you with their beauty and confront you with deep, existential questions that haunt you long after the film’s run. You won’t find obvious answers here though, and you might even leave more perplexed than when you began. But that is the beauty of a film like La Chimera, it cracks you open to different realms and possibilities.
Synopsis
Just out of jail, 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.
Storyline
In the Italian countryside, Englishman Arthur (Josh O'Connor) and his ragtag group of tomb raiders loot with abandon. Though Arthur still grieves his lost wife, he finds comfort in the company of his mother-in-law’s student, the singer Italia (Carol Duarte).
TLDR
It’s one of those films that leaves you with more questions than answers, but makes sure the experience is worthwhile, if not unforgettable.
What stands out
Director Alice Rohrwacher and cinematographer Hélène Louvart are longtime collaborators, and with La Chimera, they’ve never been more precise and delicate in their work.