LA CHIMERA (15)

https://www.harrogatefilmsociety.org/event-details/la-chimera

La Chimera | 2023 | 15 | Dir. Alice Rohrwacher | Italy | IMDb 7.3 | Subtitled | 131 mins

November 17th 7.15 – 9.30 pm @ Harrogate Odeon Screen 2

La Chimera (2023) is a beguiling journey into 1980s Tuscany, weaving grief, myth and antique hunting into a caper with tomb-raiding rogues that wouldn't look out of place in a Fellini film. Josh O’Connor stars as Arthur, a haunted British archaeologist newly released from prison, who uses a mysterious intuition - a kind of divining rod - to locate buried Etruscan treasures, as he chases the memory of his lost love Beniamina.
Rohrwacher, both writer and director, makes a film rich in folklore and satire. Drawing on her upbringing surrounded by ancient sites and tombaroli (grave‑robbers), her narrative examines our relationship with history, the commodification of culture, and the illusions of capitalism. Her collaborators - particularly cinematographer Hélène Louvart add to the texture and mood by mixing 35 mm, Super‑16 mm and 16 mm film stocks that feel tactile and very 1980s.

An initially unrecognisable Isabella Rossellini also stars as Flora - a formidable aristocrat who shares in Arthur's grief and longing.
Together, Rohrwacher’s vision, O’Connor’s soulful performance, and the ensemble cast make La Chimera a cinematic artefact well worth exploring. The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw said it is "a beguiling fantasy-comedy of lost love: garrulous, uproarious and celebratory in Rohrwacher’s absolutely distinctive style. It’s a movie bustling and teeming with life."

Empire magazine said "Enigmatic, absorbing and so much more alive than any pottery behind glass in a museum, this is an exquisitely crafted, grown-up Indiana Jones steeped in its own distinctive magic."
Wendy Ide in the Guardian gave it 5 stars and said "La Chimera is a cinematic artefact that lingers like a thread between love and history, myth and reality".

· Screen 2 upstairs - Unreserved seating
· Doors open 6.45pm
· Welcome from our chair Paula Stott @ 7.15pm
· Free parking available at the Odeon
· We invite every viewer to score the film afterwards using a token system in the lobby

· Screen 2 upstairs
· Doors open 6.45pm
· Welcome from our chair Paula Stott @ 7.15pm
· Free parking after 6pm if you DISPLAY an orange parking voucher, available from the Odeon lobby
· Unreserved seating
· We invite every viewer to score the film afterwards using a token system in the lobby.

Entry is free for HFS members who have paid an annual subscription via our website. Membership costs just £52.50 for all 15 films and just £30 if you are lucky enough to be under 25! Join on the Harrogate Film Society website.

Tickets for non-members are not available in advance for this film but may be offered after 7pm in person on the night. This is to ensure that our members are given priority.