The Chimera (now streaming on Hulu) gives us what we can expect from an Alice Rohrwacher film: unconventional storytelling, authentic, grainy imagery, a distinctive sense of setting, an indistinct sense of time, an even less distinctive sense of reality, and more than a little mischief. This 2023 film (which follows the filmmaker’s utterly charming 2022 short film) The pupilwhich you can stream on Disney+ and should do right now) stars Josh O’Connor, whose stock has risen significantly in recent months. The Chimera falls between his great television success in The crown and his great cinematic success in Challengers (We will see it next in the third episode) Knives out His performance here is raw, thoughtful, and slyly funny, playing a sort of lost soul who has an almost supernatural gift for finding ancient treasures buried beneath the earth, a talent not to be taken lightly.
THE CHIMERASTREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
The essence: The first thing we see here is Beniamina (Yile Vianello). It’s a blurry scene, like a memory: she’s a beautiful young woman in a crochet dress, the hem of which is fraying, and she realizes that the loose thread is not only caught on something, but the end is underground, something pulling at it, we don’t know. Then Arthur (O’Connor) wakes up on a train. He’s a little worn out, too. Dirty, disheveled. Miserable and sickly. And he doesn’t smell very good. That doesn’t stop three young women from flirting with him (pheromones!), though they leave as soon as he lashes out violently at a salesman who mocks his bad smell and tries to sell him a pair of socks. And so the story goes.
We soon learn that Arthur is an Englishman, a former archaeologist who has just been released from prison. He has a group of eccentric friends here in Italy who help him steal lost antiquities from tombs, to then sell them on the black market. Apparently, he was arrested for that. But he’s already served his time and is back in action, using a dowsing rod to detect what’s in the earth beneath his feet. When he senses a location marking the spot with an X, he passes out and falls ill and Rohrwacher turns the camera around and then Arthur’s friends dig and sift through the dirt and bones and pull out pots and bowls to sell to an unseen person known as Spartacus, who uses a vet’s office as a cover for this shady business. Is it a way to make a living? For some, perhaps. For Arthur, it may be more of a calling, albeit one shrouded in ethical darkness, not to mention the unpleasant spiritual factor that comes with being, well, let’s not beat around the bush, a… grave robber.
Did I mention that Benianama is Arthur’s long-lost girlfriend? The tone of the opening dream sequence suggests they were very much in love. He visits Benianama’s mother Flora (Isabella Rossellini), who is surrounded by her six dozen or so daughters, swarming around like worker bees tending to their queen. Looking after Flora is her music student Italia (Carol Duarte), who is more of a caretaker and housekeeper; Italia has two sons she hides in her room so Flora doesn’t find them. Benianama is AWOL, and Flora believes he’ll be back, though we get the sense that wherever he is it’s not a place anyone ever comes home from. There’s a spark of attraction between Arthur and Italia, though at first it’s mostly her smile that’s to blame – our boy here is rather surly and internally tortured, haunted by the memory of Benianama and surely upset by how he chooses to use his magic wand “powers”. Happenings! There are events, leading up to which, you’ll have to find out for yourself.
What movies will it remind you of? If “magical realism” gives you the creeps like it does me, read: Beasts of the Southern Wild, Come, Wendy – Let it be known that Rohrwacher’s methodology is less sentimental and more in line with Life of Pi either Pan’s LabyrinthAlso, here’s a reminder that O’Connell… other recent challenging narrative film, ChallengersIt is perhaps the best film of 2024. And which Duarte starred in Invisible lifewhich is one of the best movies of 2019.
Performance worth watching: You have to love how Rohrwacher plays with the dour Englishman surrounded by…Carpe Diem-The Italians are dynamic here, but Duarte’s presence really lights up the screen; she is the story’s purest soul and its irresistible moral center.
Memorable dialogue: A phrase from Spartacus intentionally taken out of context: “That’s what we’re here for: to value the priceless.”
Sex and skin: None! And I may be a little discouraged by that!
Our opinion: Be patient with The Chimera And his rewards will be great. Rohrwacher pes in and makes us work, immersing us in the setting (rural 1980s Italy, in my opinion) and doling out the whos, whats, wheres and whens like a mean-spirited joke. As for the whys, well, that’s up to you, and whether you read Arthur as a simple, heartbroken romantic or as someone far more mysterious and complicated. Either one can be right and neither is wrong, and that’s precisely the kind of movie this is.
Let’s think about the symbolism of a man who may have lost some hope and purpose, who digs up graves and crawls into them looking for things. Arthur is surrounded by life, a rogues gallery of eccentric criminals who find joy in their marginal lifestyles, and his life seems to have evaporated from him. Half the movie passes before he smiles, and, wouldn’t you guess it, Italy, who you may have noticed is The name comes from the literal country in which he lives. – it inspires him. But what would she think of Arthur using his “gift” for unsavory purposes? I think you’ll find out.
So perhaps the film is Arthur dealing with grief and a crisis of conscience, though none of this is ever clearly stated. Rohrwacher indulges in surreal and absurd flourishes at unexpected moments, to great comic effect. He also shows little interest in the usual narrative boundaries of tension and climax; the film’s most clearly pivotal scene occurs with 30 minutes of footage left, working toward something greater than the sum of the plot. A profound awakening, perhaps. Or a profound sleep. Either one can be right and neither is wrong, and that is precisely the kind of incredibly original, thought-provoking, moving and fascinating film this is.
Our calling: IT WAS STREAMING. It’s time to enjoy Rohrwacher’s back catalogue.
John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
