Magic Italian Style

(042524) La Chimera is a weird, whimsical, and exotic comedy that combines elements of fantasy, romance, and drama. It was shot in beautiful Tuscany and takes place in the eighties. There have been many retro films lately taking place in that era such as Drive Away Dolls and Lisa Frankenstein. It might be that many current film makers are making movies that take place when they grew up.

This lively and endearing film has silent film inspired comedy sequences and it uses fiction to explore how superstition, folk lore or magic can be limiting forces in modern European society. The film’s flaw is that certain plot points and character relationships are murky and hard to follow. There were times when I could not follow the film and I did not know what was going on.

The film resembles the recent but superior Cows Who Sing into the Future (see my best films of the year 2023 list) because both are works of magical realism in which impoverished characters have a nonchalant attitude about magic and they easily accept it as part of the fabric of life. The genre came mostly from Spanish literature. The genre which was later transposed to film was perfected by such writers as Gabriel Garcia Marquez from Columbia and Italo Calvino from Italy.

The director, Ann Rohrwacher’s previous films such as Happy as Lazzaro, achieved critical acclaim and she is one of the best known current Italian film makers (the country’s film production has declined noticeably since the sixties.) But I do not think any of her work rises to the level of the classics produced during the Golden era of Italian cinema such as Rome: Open City (1945), Bicycle Thieves (1948). L’Aventura (1960), 8 1/2 (1963), The Leopard (1963) or The Conformist (1970). It is also less interesting than many recent great Italian films such as Gomorrah (2008), Il Divo (2008), Cesare Must Die (2012), The Great Beauty (2013), Loro (2018) or Martin Eden (2019). The last one topped my top ten list of that year.

In case you were wondering a “chimera” is a gift that can sometimes also be like a curse which the main character Arthur possesses with the help of a rod he can locate ancient antiquities in Tuscany, and of course he uses it for illegal profit which is why he was in jail. When he does his work, it made me uncomfortable because when he opens burials to get valuables, he is desecrating the dead. This is usually not a good idea in films. Just look at what happened to Willie Loomis in the Dark Shadows show or the archaeologists in The Mummy (1931).

Josh O’ Connor (who makes a fine and definitely nicer Prince Charles in The Crown) is more than adequate in the leading role-playing. His role as Arthur could not contrast more with his part in The Crown. Arthur is a grubby looking, uncouth Englishman who always wears the same white suit and he looks like he does not shave or bathe often. He used to be an archaeological student but ended up falling into a criminal lifestyle.

Arthur continually makes bad choices in the film and he hooks up with a sleazy team of grave robbers for mutual profit. The bizarrely dressed crooks are very Romani like and they also make a little money entertaining on the side singing for the townspeople. To celebrate his release from jail, the band of criminals throws a joyous parade for him. Like parts of The Great Beauty this glorious and exhilarating sequence (the best in the film) seems to channel the best work of Federico Fellini. It is simultaneously celebratory, life affirming and absurd.

The minute you see them you know they will make his life more complicated and that they will bring him down. With the group he steals and sells antiquities for a very small percentage of the profits to a shady stolen goods dealer named Spartico who seems to be taking advantage of their stupidity.

The main reason that I wanted to see the film was that it has an important though small supporting role by the delightful Isabelle Rossellini who is the daughter of Roberto Rosellini and Ingrid Bergman who as my friend Lynn pointed out increasingly resembles her mom in her old age. She has had a marvelous career and was in some of my favorite films including Blue Velvet (1986), Wild at Heart (1990), Big Night (1996), Brand Upon The Brain! (2016), and the recent Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (2023). She also directed the marvelous My Dad Is 100 Years Old (2005) in which she played all the characters including her dad as well as Green Porno (2008), a remarkable documentary about the sex lives of insects.

Here Isabella plays an aging aristocratic lady who lives a hermitlike life in a big house and Arthur fell in love with her daughter Beniamina who he has lost under mysterious circumstances. But there is a legend about a buried door underground that can help people enter other realms and Arthur is hoping that if he finds it this will help him reconnect with his dead love (this might be his main motivation). Like most viewers I thought he would be better off if he just moved on and got as far away from that area and the criminals as he can.

La Chimera has an interesting look and the cinematographer, Helene Louvart shoots everything in a diaphanous haze that goes well with the films’ fantasy elements. So, although the story is slight and I would never call this a must-see film, it does provide a few moments of merriment, visual beauty and some aesthetic pleasure.