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The post Criterion Prediction #280: La Chimera, by Alexander Miller appeared first on Battleship Pretension.
Title: La Chimera
Year: 2023
Director: Alice Rohrwacher
Cast: Carol Duarte, Josh O’Connor, Alba Rohrwacher, Isabella Rossellini, Vincenzo Nemolato
Synopsis: An angsty Englishman known as Arthur (O’Connor) emerges from a mysterious prison term to the rural outskirts of 1980s Italy to reunite with a scruffy band of bandits who assist him in plundering ancient gravesites and tombs that Arthur possesses an almost psychic penchant for finding. While striking a romance with an unlikely boarder Italia (Duarte), Arthur is yearning for an elusive lover, Beniamina, whom we only see in snippets and hear in passing.
Critique: Getting a “movie high,” I’m not sure if this is a common occurrence or a term that even exists, but usually, when I see a new film that excites me, I sidestep any flaws in favor of its virtues, which is generally attributed to that adrenaline derived from that moment when the lights go up, and you’re torn between how much fun you just had and how badly you need the restroom. Usually, this feeling tapers off, and even if I love a movie, I start realizing and confronting some facts I might have overlooked once the buzz wears off, and I start to see straight.
“Man, Silence was great; I love Scorsese, but maybe Andrew Garfield‘s accent was a little stupid. I’m so glad I saw Killers of the Flower Moon in the theater, but goddamn, that was long.”
It’s perfectly natural. And it’s usually a few days, maybe weeks, where it hits you, and your most recent, newest favorite goes from a number one slot to a soft two.It’s been nearly three weeks since the lights went up after Alice Rohrwacher’s La Chimera, and I have not been struck by any subsequent revelation. From the outset, I felt the length, which is a sturdy 135 minutes, and they go by as they need to; there’s a free-form organization, an architecture of auguries. It’s a perfect corollary, a misleading conception of themes and styles, references and nudges; you feel Fellini vibes, but there’s more Pasolini on screen. You think you’re seeing a homage ala Le Seringhina, but the Rohrwacher is using the 16mm emulsion to whisper “Accattone, The Hawks and the Sparrows” in your ear – but there’s room for both, so embrace it.
Josh O’Connor is the nihilistic loner, a grave-robbing bounder, with enough enigmatic sad/mad charm and tragic mythos to keep us gawking at his angular profile. He’s prone to fits of violence and bouts of psychic tomb plundering with a merry band of ruffians who transact their treasures with a mysterious dealer, Spartaco (played by the director’s older sister, Alba). Alice Rohrwacher plays an analogous Pasolini-inspired gender swap with Carol Duarte and her magnificent beauty; her vitality and organic charm are illuminating, not unlike how Pasolini captured the effortless appeal of Ninetto Davoli. Duarte emits this essence of surrogate muse power, and just as she proved in 2018’s underrated Invisible Life, she is an exceptional talent whose career will be one we are all better off to follow. Get lost in La Chimera; don’t try to figure it out; it’s all up there on the screen. It is an epic adventure film that’s activated with political notations and historical import with a sharp eye cast to the transactional merits of creation and desire – all handled with masterful artistic finery while having fun with sexy criminal outsiders. Rohrwacher pulls a playful emerald from the minerals of cinematic bric-a-brac, honing it into something that evidences her evolving talent into one of cinema’s most original voices.
Why It Belongs in the Collection: Back in 2022, I wrote about Rohrwacher’s 2018 film Lazarro Felice as a potential Criterion title. La Chimera might not have the Netflix connection accompanying Lazarro Felice, but it’s one of those significant arthouse movies that, with the dwindling home video market, where Blu-rays are restricted to either boutique labels or some fledgling mainstream release, means we don’t want this to fall through the cracks. Given the positive response by the Current column on Criterion’s website, and it being distributed by Ad Vitam Distribution, who’s behind some existing Criterion titles, 45 Years, Let the Sunshine In, Fists in the Pockets means there’s hope to queue up Alice Rohrwacher’s latest for a spine number, please?
The post Criterion Prediction #280: La Chimera, by Alexander Miller first appeared on Battleship Pretension.
The post Criterion Prediction #280: La Chimera, by Alexander Miller appeared first on Battleship Pretension.
