La Chimera
Director | Alice Rohrwacher
Presented by Embassy of Switzerland
Set in the Tuscan town of Riparbella in the 1980s, La Chimera is a delightful story of love, longing, and grave robbers.
Director Alice Rohrwacher’s style finds its pinnacle of expression here. It is an enchanting, possessing an old-school Felliniesque analogue charm with shot-on-film cinematography.
2023 | 130 min | Comedy | Italy, Switzerland | Italian with English subtitles
CAST Josh O’Connor, Isabella Rossellini, Alba Rohrwacher, Vincenzo Nemolato
Tuscany, early 1980s. Arthur (a revelatory Josh O’Connor, The Crown) has just been released from a short stint in prison. During his earlier studies in the region, he fell in love with Beniamina, the daughter of an aging local aristocrat (Isabella Rossellini), but she’s now gone. Arthur has fallen in with the Tombaroli, a rowdy crew of twenty-somethings who pretend to make their living as farmers and entertainers, but instead pilfer the area’s ancient Etruscan tombs for earthenware and ornaments to sell on the black market, hoping to one day strike it rich…
Meanwhile Flora’s live-in maid and tone-deaf music student, Italia (Carol Duarte), catches Arthur’s eye but she has her own secrets.
Premiering to major success at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, Rohrwacher’s rule-breaking, magical film uncovers a world of wonders just below the surface. LA CHIMERA is a mesmerising ode to the fragility of the beautiful things in life, and a cautionary tale about how easily they can be lost.
5 stars. Utterly captivating. A movie bustling and teeming with life.
Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
A joyous, masterful work of magic.
Jessica Kiang, Sight and Sound
WINNER
Best Cinematography, Best Ensemble Cast - Chicago Film Festival
WINNER
Best Production Design - European Film Awards
WINNER
Best Film - Valladolid Film Festival
WINNER
Best Film - Festival Cinema Mediterrannen de Bruxelles