LA CHIMERA – Review

In Alice Rohrwacher’s Felliniesque tragicomic adventure tale LA CHIMERA, an English archaeologist-turned-tomb raider named Arthur (Josh O’Connor) leads a merry band of grave robbers who plunder ancient Etruscan tombs, eking out a meager living selling the stolen artifacts to collectors. Arthur is a haunted man, mourning his lost love, and caught up in recurring memories of their last moments together.

The tomb-raiding gives LA CHIMERA a bit of an Indiana Jones vibe, but while Arthur appears to be a trained archaeologist, he is not working for university nor is he a professor. Instead, he is what archaeologists call a “pot-hunter” plundering archaeological sites for grave goods he can sell for profit. And this grave-robbing is by no means lucrative, as he lives in a shack he built from cast off items, in the shadow of an aqueduct, and carousing with his hard-drinking band of petty thief pals, existing on the edge of Italian society. How he got there or why he stays isn’t clear but it seems to be wrapped up in his pining for the lost Beniamina and a love of Etruscan artifacts that he can’t otherwise satisfy.

Rohrwacher is happy to leave this a mystery, which draws us into this magical, dreamy story. LA CHIMERA has the feel of magical realism to it, and dream and fantasy often blend with reality so that it is sometime hard to tell what is real. The film is the third in a loosely-defined trilogy, with  “The Wonders” and “Happy as Lazzaro.” When this story takes place is also vague, perhaps some time after WWII, but certainly not the present.

Arthur uses a dowsing rod in finding the hidden tombs but really seems guided by an otherworldly sense that connects him to the graves and causes him to often collapse when he gets close. Arthur is a man of two worlds, a kind of chimera, searching for something he can never find. Images and memories of his lost love Beniamina (Yile Vianello) fill his dreams. In his sorrow, he visits her mother Flora (Isabella Rossellini), a former opera star living in a crumbling mansion. The imperious but nearly-wheelchair bound Flora who ekes out her living teaching singing to student she treats like servants. Flora is hoping for the return of her favorite daughter and Arthur tells Flora he is still searching for her Beniamina, even though it appears he knows she’s dead.

The tomb-raiders face a number of obstacles beyond just finding the ancient tombs. They have to avoid arrest by the authorities for their grave-robbing, but also evade fellow grave robbers. The main fence for their plundered treasures is a shady mobster who represents a threat in itself, and there is a villain who adds to the adventure tale excitement.

Director/writer Alice Rohrwacher weaves a magical, almost fable-like tale, in this magical film, as she takes us on a series of adventures. The film is filled with wonderful performances, particularly the lead Josh O’Connor, breaking out from his role in “The Crown” series as the young Prince Charles to movie leading man, and Isabella Rossellini brilliant and funny as a sharp-tongued former opera diva. While Rohrwacher takes us on adventures, her film returns to the sad, lost Arthur, in scenes sometimes moving us from this world to that of the dead, until finally delivering us to just the right ending.

LA CHIMERA opens Friday, Apr. 12, in theaters.

RATING: 4 out of 4 stars