« Gli Etruschi li hanno lasciati qui per noi. » “The Etruscans left these here for us.”
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 (Josh O’Connor), 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.
Il portuale (Luca Gargiullo), Melchiorre (Melchiorre Pala) et Pirro (Vincenzo Nemolato) sur le tracteur et Fabiana (Ramona Fiorini), Arthur (Josh O’ Connor) et Jerry (Giuliano Mantovani), sur la remorque
With La chimera, Alice Rohrwacher takes a lighter approach, with a film about tomb raiders in Italy in the 1980s. It’s a film that, behind its simple entertainment allure, nonetheless takes an interesting look at the ownership of objects from the past.
Move over Indiana!
If I wanted to make enemies, I’d say that La chimera is a more adult Indiana Jones, or a Tomb Raiders with a screenplay. But I wouldn’t want to make those kinds of comparisons. God forbid 😉
The tombaroli were, in a way, mocking the people who had buried these objects according to religious rites or pagan beliefs. In Rohrwacher’s film, it’s mainly the Etruscans – who devoted their art, know-how and resources to the invisible – who are the target of the tombaroli. La chimera also touches on one of the most far-reaching issues affecting Italy and the many other countries that are cradles of ancient civilizations, namely the market for ancient art and the illicit trade in archaeological treasures.
Melchiorre, Arthur et Pirro en train de creuser
Arthur, who unwittingly finds himself at the center of this looting, is looking for a kind of redemption, a past he can’t put behind him. In his mystical search, Arthur is accompanied by two women: on the one hand, Beniamina, who is no longer with him, but attracts him like a magnet; and on the other, Italia, cheerful and lively, superstitious and comic, a woman Arthur could love… But to do so, he has to let go of the past.
But letting go of the past and looking to the future isn’t so simple. And it’s into this bittersweet adventure that viewers are invited with La chimera.
La chimera screens at the TIFF on September 7, 12 and 14, 2023.
