La Chimera (2023)
Written by Rara (Kru’22)
La Chimera (2023) follows the story of Arthur (Josh O’Connor), a British archeologist who just got released from prison after getting caught while grave robbing. Yes, Arthur spends his time grave-digging with his friends, the Tombaroli — a group of tomb raiders who seek to escape poverty by selling grave goods to Spartaco, an etruscan tombs collector. Gifted with an uncanny ability to find things that are lost, Arthur becomes the unofficial leader of the Tombaroli, as they depend on his intuition to choose the digging sites. Despite the dependency of Tombaroli for him, Arthur doesn’t seem to be too interested in what they are doing. He is still mourning his lover, Beniamina (Yle Vianello), who has passed away.
Set in the 1980s in the rural area of Italy, director Alice Rohrwacher along with her cinematographer, Hélène Louvart, beautifully depict the Tuscan landscape with vibrant color grading and the use of film stocks in some scenes, as well as the camera works used. Those elements make the first half of the movie’s slow-burning plot to be less boring, at least for me.
Along the journey, we meet Flora (Isabella Rossellini), Beniamina’s mother who is also still mourning the death of her daughter and believes that one day Beniamina will return. Arthur remains close to Flora, who cares deeply for him and shares the same denial of Beniamina’s passing. It’s at Flora’s house that Arthur meets Italia (Carol Duarte), Flora’s vocal student who seems more like her servant.
The relationship between Arthur and Italia grows deeper, until Italia learns what Arthur has been doing with his life: grave digging and robbery, which are wrong and immoral. “Those things are not made for human eyes,” she says to Arthur when grave digging makes more sense to him later, as he finally realizes that what he’s been doing is wrong. He comes to this realization when he throws a Eurydice statue’s head into the ocean — a statue that was like a jackpot for the Tombaroli when they found it.
“You’re not made for human eyes.”
I find this sentence very impactful because it could also portray that it is impossible for Arthur to recover Beniamina, as she is gone forever and will never return to him. It’s the moment when you realize that life must go on, and you can never go back to the past — a feeling I know all too well, which makes me empathize with Arthur even more. The brilliant Josh O’Connor did very great depicting the melancholy feelings of grief where every smile he gives feels so sad and warm at the same time.
Despite Arthur’s constant effort to live in the present, he still yearns for the past, for his long-lost love, Beniamina. Throughout the movie, fleeting glimpses of Beniamina appear, emphasizing Arthur’s lingering attachment. Rohrwacher portrays this longing for the past through Arthur’s interests with digging underground — a physical manifestation of his desire to unearth what’s been buried. Ironically, Arthur’s uncanny gift for finding lost things fails him when it comes to finding Beniamina, the one he most desperately wishes to recover.
What makes this movie more fascinating is how they utilize music for storytelling. Through the musical narrative, they described Arthur’s character deeper, as well as what the Tombaroli do for their life. We can understand more of their perspectives and what Rohrwacher’s intended messages
La Chimera is a haunting exploration of loss, memory, and the human tendency to dig through the past in hopes of uncovering what’s gone. Rohrwacher delicately portrays Arthur’s journey as he struggles with the weight of his loss, seeking to unearth what has been buried both physically and emotionally. The film’s dreamlike conclusion blurs the line between the living and the dead, offering a comforting yet bittersweet reminder that the ones we’ve lost continue to linger in our hearts. It’s in this delicate exploration of mourning and acceptance that La Chimera reveals its true depth, inviting viewers to reflect on the pain of letting go and the quiet persistence of love.
