Jubilee films for Pilgrims of Hope: ‘La Chimera’

By Fr. Greg Apparel, CSP

Maybe we all have a goal in life that eludes us. Everyone has their own dream, something we want to achieve, but it’s always a step beyond our reach. In addition to being a fire-breathing female monster in Greek mythology, the Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines chimera as “an illusion or fabrication of the mind, especially an unrealizable dream.” In the new film “The Chimera,” by Italian screenwriter and director Alice Rohrwacher, the protagonist’s chimera reunites with his lost love Beniamina. His name is Arthur and he is superbly played by Josh O’Connor (“The Crown”, “Challengers”).

We meet Arthur on a train. It is neglected to say the least. We soon learn that he has just been released from prison and is returning “home” to a small town in Tuscany. We are in the 80s and Arthur dreams of Beniamina’s face and then of the red thread that she keeps pulling from her knitted dress. Both visions come to mind throughout the film. The women in his wagon try to strike up a conversation with him. A salesman tries to sell him clean socks and cologne because of his smelly state, Arthur violently pushes him away and scares the others with his behavior. As Arthur gets off the train, they call him a “six-foot criminal.” He gets a ride from Pirro who wants to meet their old gang of grave robbers, but Arthur just wants to go home to his cabin and get his “stuff”. Arthur’s house is just as messy as Arthur’s: he is depressed, disheveled and very angry. He has to visit Signora Flora (played by the wonderful Isabella Rosellini). She is in a wheelchair, taken care of by Italia, her singer/servant student. “Finally, you came,” she said to Arthur, “I told you he would come back. He’s Beniamina’s boyfriend. And as she is Beniamina’s mother, she says to him: “Find her. Don’t lose hope.

He sees the sanctuary Flora built for her daughter: her photographs with a candle lit in front of them. His daughters and granddaughters come to visit and tell Arthur that he looks sick and needs a job. Flora keeps hearing a baby crying and is told it must be a lamb nearby. He returns home to his freezing cabin and wakes up in the morning to find Italia. “Signora Flora asked me to bring you a few things.” He has a fever and cough, but he continues to smoke and drink. It is clearly in poor condition.

Now we find out why Arthur was in prison. His hidden treasures have been confiscated and he runs to join his old gang. They were just trying to keep the antiques for him so the police or Spartaco, the local henchman, wouldn’t find them. He looks at his little Etruscan objects and finally smiles when they make him participate in the Epiphany procession. They wear various costumes in honor of Befana, the witch-like old woman who delivers gifts on the eve of Epiphany. Arthur is stone cold drunk now, and the blonde Mélodie offers Arthur a concert, as he is known as the Maestro. He and his gang, known as tombaroli (or grave robbers), go to a place where antiquities have already been found. He makes a new magic wand, a dowser, and slowly walks around the area looking for buried treasures, actually buried tombs. When breathing hard, it falls, but it’s a trick to get rid of parasites. Arthur and his friends return in the middle of the night and dig, finding a burial chamber with bones and many ordinary household objects over 2000 years old. Although Arthur is truly a criminal, he is in love with archeology and his friends sing of his fame.

In the meantime, we discover that Italia also has a secret: she has a daughter and a baby, which she has hidden from Flora. She teaches Arthur some useful Italian gestures so they can communicate in secret. He gives him a little bell, a campanello, but he doesn’t tell her where it comes from.

THE tombaroli take their loot to Spartaco, who, even though he expects better, buys them all. And they share the money. In celebration, Italia joins them in their dance. Arthur takes him to the water to show him a nearby necropolis. She doesn’t like it. But the place holds many memories for Arthur, and he sees Beniamina’s face and the red thread on her dress again. Breathing hard, he falls. He is lost in his fantasy. “We open graves, that’s how we make money,” he told her. She realizes that the little bell he gave her is from the graves, perhaps that of a child, and says that these items. . . “are not for the eyes of humans but for the eyes of souls.” She wants to call the police and ask them if Beniamina knows. He finally admits that his love is dead and tells Italia to go home. She said: “I curse you. »

Of course, the very big discovery of a buried shrine soon appears and we meet the real Spartaco. Arthur is affected by Italia’s reaction and continues to think that these things are not for human eyes. He has a confrontation with his gang and with Spartaco when he sees Beniamina in his head. And he does something that makes them all angry and causes a rift.

And this is where hope begins to drift and I can see the reasons why this film was chosen to tie in with the upcoming Jubilee of Hope. Arthur is back on a train that stops in a tunnel. He sees the people from the beginning of the film: the conductor, the young girls, the salesman. They all ask him if he knows where their “funeral objects” are. They had them and now they’re gone. He leaves the train while the singer and the triangle player sing the ballad of Arthur the Seeker, which speaks of life, death and love. He walks on the highway, then crosses a field of dead sunflowers (it’s January). He returns home to find his cabin being demolished by the police. He is dirty, sunburned and friendless. But Italia’s daughter comes to save him. She cleans him and takes him to her mother who now lives in the deserted station with other women and their young children. They want him to stay and be their servant. He wants it but there is this chimera. So he goes back to the tombs, and there he discovers what he was looking for all along.

It’s a charming film, with colorful characters and interesting cinematographic techniques – sometimes on 35mm, sometimes on 16mm, and sometimes on time-lapse film. And Josh O’Connor shines in this role. Going from Prince Charles in “The Crown” to Arthur (and speaking fluent Italian for that matter) is a revelation. The countryside and sea are beautiful, although the industrial zones built over the tombs are disturbing. Not everything is meant for human eyes, and our hope lies in what our souls will see. And perhaps seeking our own chimera will help us find fulfillment in our lives. In lyric form, The Ballad of Arthur the Seeker proclaims: “All he wanted was a full life. »