La Chimera
Take a look in advance
Arthur (Josh O'Connor, Only You, God's Own Country, but perhaps best known as Prince Charles in The Crown) is an archaeologist just out of prison. Arthur lives in a squalid slum in the hills. There he hangs out with a Fellini-like platoon of grinning, bickering, grave-robbing troubadours, whose income theoretically comes from entertaining the locals with their singing. However, it is common knowledge that they are part of the thriving hidden market in stolen art treasures. They then sell those treasures for a fraction of their value to a shady dealer who manufactures the fake provenance documents, which allow them to be legally resold to foreign buyers for a fortune.
Because Arthur, with the help of ...
Arthur (Josh O'Connor, Only You, God's Own Country, but perhaps best known as Prince Charles in The Crown) is an archaeologist just out of prison. Arthur lives in a squalid slum in the hills. There he hangs out with a Fellini-like platoon of grinning, bickering, grave-robbing troubadours, whose income theoretically comes from entertaining the locals with their singing. However, it is common knowledge that they are part of the thriving hidden market in stolen art treasures. They then sell those treasures for a fraction of their value to a shady dealer who manufactures the fake provenance documents, which allow them to be legally resold to foreign buyers for a fortune.
Because Arthur can use a divining rod to tell where priceless Etruscan antiquities are buried, he becomes pretty much the boss of the gang. He doesn't do so for a fortune. He thinks, in his insane grief, that this way he could be reunited with his lost lover, Benjamina (Yes, really).
This new film from director Alice Rohrwacher is an enchanting fantasy comedy about lost love: chatty, loud and festive in her absolutely signature style. It is a film that fizzes and teems with life, with characters who fight, sing, steal and speak directly to us viewers.