#i know Alice Rohrwacher saw the vision for la Chimera

[icarusreading]

La Chimera (Alice Rohrwacher)-4.5/5 stars

!!Spoilers Ahead!!

Cast-5/5

I’ve loved Josh O’conner since Challengers-I mean, he’s just so endearing and a phenomenal actor all around. I loved the array of emotions he was able to display in this movie with only his eyes. I think that’s one of the best features an actor can have. He was able to display sadness, anger, love, happiness, without a word.

Yile Vianelli as Beniamenia is another actress who stood out to me. Even with her extremely limited dialogue and screen time, she made playing a dead character feel so alive. She felt so captivating in Arthur’s dream sequences and i don’t know, her presence in the movie was prevalent even though she was barely there.

Overall the casting was beautiful. I’m a sucker for actors who don’t OVERact which is exactly what this movie did. Everyone felt so real, like they were really the characters they were playing. Arthur’s little posse felt real and familial, just in the way that they all interacted. As dysfunctional as they were. I don’t know how else to put it other than everyone in this movie played their characters, whether major or minor, phenomenally. I have not felt this enraptured by a film since call me by your name.

Plot-4/5

For the first solid half an hour of this movie, I was confused. I didn’t really follow. But once the pieces started clicking, i couldn’t tear my eyes away. I still don’t fully understand Arthur’s ‘gift’ or how it worked but maybe that’s just a piece i’m missing. Overall I think this was a love story, in the most haunting way it could be. While Arthur is being used for his gift for his friends to make money, what he’s searching for isn’t pots or statues. As said in the synopsis-‘Everyone has their own Chimera, something they try to achieve but can never find. For Arthur, the Chimera is the woman he lost, Beniamina’. In a way, Italia almost filled that void. What stands out most to me is Arthur’s ghostliness. He was never really there, he was always on the search for Beniamenia. Even as the main character, he faded into the background (often times literally) and I think that does more storytelling than any amount of dialogue.

Score-5/5

Not super knowledgeable in this topic, but i thought the music fit super well so i have no complaints. The violins gave it both a wistful and dreamlike atmosphere while also an eerie one at times.

Cinematography-5/5

Right off the bat I have to talk about Arthur’s dreams. The movie was literally at its most vibrant when he was dreaming of Beniamenia. When awake, he was a walking ghost while Beniamenia was a literal one. His life was most vibrant when she was alive and I think it’s so beautiful how his yearning is represented through color. Also the way the width of the shot (i don’t know how else to put it??) is smaller. To me that represented the small portion of his life he was still clinging onto, or the tunnel vision he has in searching for the feeling she gave him. Even subconsciously, he searches for her in everything.

Overall I think the way this movie was filmed was gorgeous. It felt easy to follow, which I think with a movie like this is needed. What made me give it such a high score was the stark contrast between his dreams and real life, and the changes in color/shadow to give the viewer a physical representation of Arthur’s emotions.

Another note-when we find out the people sitting with Arthur in the beginning are ghosts of the people whose tombs he’s stolen from…art. that’s all i have to say. it really stuck with me, the way the ghosts of his past play such a unique role in his life.

Ending-5/5

Oh. My. God. One of the best endings to a movie i’ve ever seen. In a way I expected it to be a different one. I thought he beat the odds against him and would live a happy life with Italia-which of course would go against everything the movie is about.

I clocked the fact that he was going to get buried the second they were pressuring him in. But when i tell you the second i saw that red string…i lost it. I’m such a sucker for red string theory. And again, as i’ve probably made it clear, im a huge fan of lighting. the way he was pulling down, like he was pulling her down to him, but she was pulling up, like they’ve always had a pull on each other even in death. The light casting upon him in the darkness of the tunnel was literally the light at the end of the tunnel. Whether that be the end of his life or the end of his journey of searching for his Chimera (or both) it tugs at you. The final scene where they’re finally reunited made me cry. Because it was his dream sequence but wider (again, i don’t know how to word this?? full screen??). Finally he was at the end of his search. It felt magical and wistful. The way I felt once the credits rolled was weirdly serene. Although, I think that was the point. Because there was this sense of acceptance to the whole thing. It was sad, not devastating. it just was. I’m just yapping at this point, but truly the ending of this movie has to be up in my top 10 favorites of all time.

Favorite quote/scene-

‘non sei fatta per gli occhi degli uomini’ - You are not made for human eyes.

I could go on and on and on, but this was the moment i realized how much this movie was going to stick with me. Because it was clear he saw a glimpse of Beniamenia in the statue, but he knows that’s the closest he’s going to be to finding her in this life. Throwing it in the water to be was him letting go. Water often represents freedom, purification, and healing. Arthur so deeply struggles to embrace what his life is like now without her and in a way this felt like his way of acceptance.

Final thoughts-

Looking at this from an artistic standpoint, it was stunning. I watched it with a friend who, i’ll admit, doesn’t analyze every second of a movie like i do, and she loved it just as much. I think the only thing i’ll say is that it was a little bit slow, but then again that’s not really an issue in my book. I might just be easily entertained. Another thing i’ll note is that I am not versed in the history of Etruscan art, so there may be some things i’m missing that this movie was trying to say. But overall i think the acting was off the hook, and i can’t believe this got 4th place at Cannes. I’m a little biased because Josh O’conner holds a special place in my heart, but i would recommend this movie to anyone who has the patience to really sit down and take in this movie for what it is. I’ve watched a few interview clips with Josh and Alice, and it sounds like it was a very hands on film in terms of researching and connecting with where they were filming. It has left me with a lot of lingering thoughts on love and yearning and what it means to live without living in the past.

divider credits: @strangergraphics-archive <3