‘La Chimera’ Review — An Absolute Treasure of a Movie Is Finally Uncovered

The big picture

• by Alice Rohrwacher
  The Chimera
  subtly explores magic, history and death in a gentle yet vibrant way.
• Although supposedly cartoonist of
  Indiana Jones
  he keeps adventure on the sidelines and goes deeper and deeper into melancholy.
• The Chimera
  is a tragically transcendent story of grief, new beginnings, and finding treasures in the dark.

Near the end of the writer-director Alice Rohrwacherthe quietly fascinating feature The Chimera, there is a moment when everything that preceded it comes to the fore. It's the kind of sequence that's already up there as one of the best endings of 2024, as it combines all the flashes of a painful past and the path forward into something subtly explosive. Although this year there are no shortage of big finals and The Chimera technically it already premiered at the Cannes Film Festival last year, remains one of the most interesting and enlightening films to come out this year as well.

Now releasing through Neon, it's finally getting its moment in the sun, even though it's a film built around what lies in the great darkness of a world below our own. It's unhurried in its pace, but that only makes it all the more shocking when the threads come together after rooting in the dirt. A gentle film about magic, history and death that feels like it could slip through your fingers. The Chimera it becomes an unexpectedly vibrant work that, little by little, envelops you in its spell. When you pick it up too, you find something sublime.

What is 'La Chimera' about?

All of this begins with a dream that is also a memory. Arthur, played by Josh O'Connor at his best, he's coming home on a train and having visions of someone he's lost. When he wakes up, he seems less than pleased by the reality that greets him. He has nothing but the clothes on his back which, as someone on the trip comments, seems to smell. Although angry at having pointed this out to him, Arthur continues until he finds himself in Tuscany. Look for Flora, perfectly played by the legendary Isabella Rossellini, with whom it is connected in loss. He recognizes the surrounding Italian region in a profound sense, as he can locate the graves of those buried there. His power also feels like a curse as he seems drawn to a past and whole world from which he still remains agonizingly distant.

Arthur soon rejoins a merry band of grave robbers who use their skills to steal valuables from these resting places that they can sell for cash. There's a lot that can feel a bit meandering at the beginning of the film, but all of that is soon put aside as larger meanings are dug up. While their discoveries bring small moments of joy to the group, even in an effective montage that sees them zooming across territory, it feels fleeting. Arthur begins to make a connection with Italy, played by an equally spectacular Carol Duartebut there it remains something in his past that keeps him away from what could be happiness in the present. The experience is humorous as it remains unsettling.

This may seem like something more ethereal than what is driven by a conventional narrative. That's because it is. It's not a film that will hold your hand as it challenges you to think about the visual storytelling that Rohrwacher continues to master. A moment when we're standing underwater after being thrown tells us infinitely more than it would if a character told you everything. It's in these moments that O'Connor, though often just as light with words, says so much just in the fragments of joy that Arthur finds in a world that has been defined by loss. He and Rohrwacher are operating in a beautiful synchronicity, challenging us to ponder the more metaphorical landscapes the characters pass through as they dig underground from the literal. It is about the search as much as what is found.

The film is one that Rohrwacher has said, perhaps with slight cheekiness, is heavily inspired by elements of the original Indiana Jones, and you can feel that there is a sense of adventure existing on the fringes. He always stands there as we watch the group go about their business, to the point where it starts to feel more routine and ordinary. Most importantly, this is something Rohrwacher captures with an eye for realism, as well as the stunning cinematography of Hélène Louvart, relying less on magical style than on more reflective moments. The most fascinating and down-to-earth moment comes when we don't see any of the characters. Instead, the camera pans away from them to sit inside one of the tombs this group is entering. We see what happens when it's exposed to air, and the way that action alone feels like something is being lost because of a presence from another time that approaches. There are small signs of peace to be found, but it is forever fragile.

'La Chimera' is a beautiful film about time, loss and love

That Arthur and company go down afterwards is just an extension of that. Without ever explaining things, it's clear that Rohrwacher is interested in our relationship with the past on a personal, almost spiritual level. He never judges his characters, as there is immense affection and understanding for why they seek some kind of solace in this story, just as there is a sense of sadness in the way they do. A key turning point comes between Italy and Arthur, with the two initially growing closer after a party, before the former backs off when he realizes what he's been up to these days. Then it will be up to each of them to see what path they will take in their life. Wait for their reconciliation, but it's clear that melancholy is waiting in the wings. You can't run away from it, but you can accept it.

To say the real treasure of The Chimera it was about the friends we made along the way would be suitably funny, which the film itself often is in unexpected ways, though it ultimately falls short of the multiplicity of emotions that Rohrwacher discovers. From the moment Arthur makes a big decision for himself, throwing away the past so he can protect himself from those in the present, then the film becomes less about joy than about grief. A mourning for those we have lost, who we used to be when we were with them, who we are struggling to be now, and how we can hope to return to the past.

That Arthur is given a chance at a new life, cutting his hair with charm and doing everything he can to give it the best chance, before walking away once again makes it all the more tragic transcendental, just as it is ultimately liberating. Although sometimes full of whimsy, it's not something that goes down easily. Instead, dig and dig before digging some more. What the film and Arthur then find is a treasure more valuable than anything they've discovered before. From the depths of darkness, emerge into vibrant light.

The Chimera is now available to stream on VOD in the US

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