Written by Andreas Babiolakis

Warning: The following review is of a film that is part of TIFF 2023 and may contain spoilers for La chimera. Reader discretion is advised.

Alice Rohrwacher is no stranger to the world of cinema. If you weren’t familiar with her before, chances are her widely popular short film from 2022, Le pupille, attracted you to her quaint-yet-wild style. While the short was one that left much to be desired, I was always hoping to see this Italian giant take off after a film as strong as Happy as Lazzaro. Well, that time has arrived. La chimera is a sensational triumph of auteur filmmaking: a self-aware dramedy that draws you in as much as it forces you to look from afar. Once the title card is inspected through a viewfinder in the context of the film (a play out of the Agnès Varda playbook), you know rules don’t apply in La chimera, and seeing where Rohrwacher is willing to go from there is half of the fun. Where Le pupille felt dull with its investment in whimsy, La chimera soars because of how far it is willing to go with childlike enthusiasm; it is postmodern enough to keep your brain occupied yet deeply rooted in reality so any morals will hit as they should.

The film features Arthur (played Josh O’Connor of Peaky Blinders fame): an archaeologist who gets wrapped up in the criminal underground movement of tomb and grave robbing of rare artifacts attached to the Etruscan civilization. Arthur is a conman by heart but also someone who means well, so he is caught in his own tug-of-war as he cannot stop stealing but also wants to identify with those that remind him of Beniamina: a love who is missing from the entire film who is only portrayed via sixteen-millimetre memories. He connects with Italia and Flora (played by Carol Duarte and Isabella Rossellini respectively) as he settles into the village life before embarking on his next archaeological heist. As kooky as La chimera is, not once does the film forgo its story or complexity as the film digs as deeply as possible to get to the best narrative traits possible.

The film also ventures outwardly as it connects with its audience in a myriad of rule-breaking ways, some traditional (various moments of fourth-wall breaking) and others refreshing (including inverted shots that are spliced in out of nowhere). The entire film is made to look like it is both sixteen and thirty-five-millimetre film so that nostalgic vibe that you often find in Rohrwacher’s films is on full display here. The main thing is that the story is fascinating throughout, so the film never feels gimmicky. At the same time, the entirety of Rohrwacher’s artistic choices all feel necessary, so these tricks are never just for the sake of having them. You’re left wondering why some moments are showed in a different format, why we get talked to directly, and why some shots are upside down. This adds to the mythos of La chimera and leaves you soul-searching during and well after the film. La chimera feels like a film made by both Wes Anderson and Federico Fellini by encompassing both directors’ whimsies, but this is also intrinsically Alice Rohrwacher through and through. Get used to her name, because she will be sticking around well after La chimera gets a wide release.

As the film continues through its third act and dips into its more mature territory, we’ve had our fill of fun but Rohrwacher wants to keep investigating. What does passion look like once the spark is diluted? Her world of fantasy is still magical yet we can acknowledge the pain and worry present: like sobering up while still high in order to make it through a tribulation. Because she indulges in spiritual and allegorical storytelling enough (for instance, Arthur’s ability to find where buried artifacts are by following a twig rod), Rohrwacher is able to leave her biggest wallop for last: an ending shot that socked me in the gut as soon as I saw it. It is a marriage between the end of reality and the ghostly fables shared throughout the film. It is a bittersweet note that resembles Icarus’ fall from grace but also the ability to finally find peace — even if it is outside of our own realms of possibility.

A chimera is a being that is made up of different genetic components, and Alice Rohrwacher’s brilliant feature is titled as such because it marries the world that we live in with the otherworldliness of the great beyond. In a film about the unearthing of remnants and memories, we devote a lot of time allowing psyche, beliefs, emotions, and ideas to surface in any capacity, be they concepts that are ridiculous or severe. How a film can be this absurd and youthful yet so full of adult damnation is beyond me. With a refreshing premise and even more unique ideas, Rohrwacher’s La chimera is unmissable cinema that will both make a splash and deeply resonate with your soul. Do we condemn a bad spirit who is being so open and honest with us (and not anyone else)? That’s what the film forces us to decide. For me, I sympathize with Arthur: a dreamer caught up in the rush of his fascinations even for the worse. When he stares into the eyes of a beheaded statue and conflates the destruction of art with the loss of life, I cannot help but view his sins as those of someone who wants to resurrect departed souls. You may view his thievery as more malicious, and that is your prerogative. Either way, be us alive or dead, life is all about the chases we embark in to keep going forward, either as a mission to stay alive or as legacies that linger once we have joined the great beyond. La chimera is a sensational film that will take you to places not many films this year will. Relish in it.

Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Toronto Metropolitan University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.