FILMABEND #28 ALICE ROHRWACHER: LA CHIMERA

In the organizer's words:

7PM
GUIDED TOUR at the Kunstverein
with Rebekka Seubert

8PM
FILM at the Kino im U
La Chimera
Director: Alice Rohrwacher
IT, FR, 2023 (130')
Language: Italian, English, Subtitles: German

selected by Mariana Castillo Deball

Italy in the 80s. The strange Brit Arthur is a diviner and the great trump card of the wild troupe of "Tombaroli", who dig up the Etrurian earth in search of ancient treasures: Grave goods of immeasurable value, made for the souls of the deceased, not for the eyes of men. But Arthur is not chasing the chimera of easy money. His chimera looks like the woman he has lost, Beniamina. To find her, he challenges the boundaries between dream and reality, between the visible and the invisible, on an adventurous search for the gateway to the afterlife that the myths speak of.
As lonely as Arthur's quest may be, he is not alone: Beniamina's mother, the ageing aristocrat Flora, lives in her huge villa between grandeur and decay; the Tombaroli drag him along to wild parties; the fence Spartaco buys the antiques snatched from the earth at ridiculous prices; and Italia, who breathes new life into Arthur with irresistible cheerfulness and a crash course in Italian sign language.
One night, Arthur, Italia and the Tombaroli unexpectedly stumble upon an Etruscan treasure trove. In view of the immeasurable wealth and breathtaking beauty, the boundaries between past and present, sacred and tangible, life and death seem to be rearranged. Has Arthur's search come to an end?

"La Chimera", Alice Rohrwacher's new film after "Happy as Lazzaro", is a wonder in the best tradition of Italian cinema: magical, deep, burlesque, down-to-earth and fantastic, philosophical, comedic and dramatic, moving love story and impetuous adventure. Wonderfully filmed by Hélène Louvart and masterfully edited by Nelly Quettier, Josh O'Connor ("The Crown") shines as the melancholy grave robber in a stunning ensemble cast including Carol Duarte, Vincenzo Nemolato, Alba Rohrwacher and the great Isabella Rossellini.

Text: Piffl Media