In the past, film and television works with the theme of tomb robbing were always related to elements such as adventure, wealth, suspense, and thriller.
But there is a recent tomb robbery movie, but the director made it poetic and innocent, like a romantic journey in spring.
It is "Chimera" by Italian director Aliche Rohrwacher.
As a female director born in the 1980s, Aliche has been making great films since her debut.
In 2011, her first feature film " Corpus Christi " was shortlisted for the Directors' Fortnight in Cannes and attracted widespread attention; in 2014,
entered the main competition with " miracle " and won the jury award second only to the Palme d'Or. ;
In 2018, her more well-known work "Happiness of Lazzaro" was shortlisted for the Cannes main competition and won the Best Screenplay Award. It was widely praised among movie fans and became the most popular art film in recent years.
's new work "Chimera" was shortlisted for the main competition in Cannes last year. Surprisingly, this much-anticipated work failed to win any awards, leaving many fans to complain about her.
Why was this film not favored by the Cannes jury, but why is it so loved by movie fans?
The protagonist of the story of "Chimera" is a mysterious outsider named Arthur (played by Josh O'Connor). No one knows which country he comes from specifically, but they just call him "an English speaker."
was regarded as the leader of a group of local tomb robbers because he had an ability similar to "psychic" - he could sense the ruins and cultural relics underground.
In Tuscany in the 1980s, they plundered treasures from Etruscan tombs and resold them to a mysterious buyer.
But Arthur's motivation for robbing the tomb is slightly different from that of these tomb robbers: he was immersed in the grief of losing his girlfriend Benimina and tried to open up the world through the mysterious connection with the underground world. The door to girlfriend reunion.
The title "Chimera" is a monster in ancient Greek mythology. Its original meaning is the Greek "female goat". It is now used to refer to "impossible ideas" and "unrealistic dreams".
Everyone in the movie is searching for their own chimera.
For those tomb robbers, realizing their dream of getting rich overnight through tomb robbing is their Chimera; for Arthur, finding his lost lover is his Chimera...
The past relationship with Alicia Like the work, "Chimera" also uses an allegorical approach to describe the conflict between the traditional lifestyle represented by the countryside and modern capitalist commercial society.
In "Happy Lazzaro", this theme is reflected in the fact that the farmers represented by Lazzaro are incompatible with modern urban life.
At the end of the movie, the lone wolf running in the busy city seems to be the incarnation of Lazzaro, running counter to modern civilization and carrying the glory of divinity.
In "Chimera", the conflict between the past and the present is reflected in how different people treat the past.
Grave robbers from the countryside live like nomads. They live in poverty, but they are also free and casual. They rob graves to fill their stomachs and sing and dance in their leisure time.
For this group of tomb robbers, past civilizations are just tools for them to make money.
The past is not important, nor is civilization. Things that cannot be seen have no value. Only the enjoyment of this world is the most important.
Unlike the tomb robbers, the antique buyers in the film are more ruthless and cunning. He almost didn't show up in the first half. Every time he came to trade, the goods were transported up by a small elevator, and the money was put down again. The tomb robbers had no part in bargaining, and everything was decided by this invisible hand.
It wasn't until he finally showed up that the tomb robbers discovered that the mysterious merchant selling stolen goods turned out to be the exquisitely dressed woman in front of them. Faced with the tomb robbers' trade requests, she was calm and determined, never giving in.
To her, past civilizations were gimmicks that could be used to package cultural relics and make their prices soar.
In the past, film and television works with the theme of tomb robbing were always related to elements such as adventure, wealth, suspense, and thriller.
But there is a recent tomb robbery movie, but the director made it poetic and innocent, like a romantic journey in spring.
It is "Chimera" by Italian director Aliche Rohrwacher.
As a female director born in the 1980s, Aliche has been making great films since her debut.
In 2011, her first feature film " Corpus Christi " was shortlisted for the Directors' Fortnight in Cannes and attracted widespread attention; in 2014,
entered the main competition with " miracle " and won the jury award second only to the Palme d'Or. ;
In 2018, her more well-known work "Happiness of Lazzaro" was shortlisted for the Cannes main competition and won the Best Screenplay Award. It was widely praised among movie fans and became the most popular art film in recent years.
's new work "Chimera" was shortlisted for the main competition in Cannes last year. Surprisingly, this much-anticipated work failed to win any awards, leaving many fans to complain about her.
Why was this film not favored by the Cannes jury, but why is it so loved by movie fans?
The protagonist of the story of "Chimera" is a mysterious outsider named Arthur (played by Josh O'Connor). No one knows which country he comes from specifically, but they just call him "an English speaker."
was regarded as the leader of a group of local tomb robbers because he had an ability similar to "psychic" - he could sense the ruins and cultural relics underground.
In Tuscany in the 1980s, they plundered treasures from Etruscan tombs and resold them to a mysterious buyer.
But Arthur's motivation for robbing the tomb is slightly different from that of these tomb robbers: he was immersed in the grief of losing his girlfriend Benimina and tried to open up the world through the mysterious connection with the underground world. The door to girlfriend reunion.
The title "Chimera" is a monster in ancient Greek mythology. Its original meaning is the Greek "female goat". It is now used to refer to "impossible ideas" and "unrealistic dreams".
Everyone in the movie is searching for their own chimera.
For those tomb robbers, realizing their dream of getting rich overnight through tomb robbing is their Chimera; for Arthur, finding his lost lover is his Chimera...
The past relationship with Alicia Like the work, "Chimera" also uses an allegorical approach to describe the conflict between the traditional lifestyle represented by the countryside and modern capitalist commercial society.
In "Happy Lazzaro", this theme is reflected in the fact that the farmers represented by Lazzaro are incompatible with modern urban life.
At the end of the movie, the lone wolf running in the busy city seems to be the incarnation of Lazzaro, running counter to modern civilization and carrying the glory of divinity.
In "Chimera", the conflict between the past and the present is reflected in how different people treat the past.
Grave robbers from the countryside live like nomads. They live in poverty, but they are also free and casual. They rob graves to fill their stomachs and sing and dance in their leisure time.
For this group of tomb robbers, past civilizations are just tools for them to make money.
The past is not important, nor is civilization. Things that cannot be seen have no value. Only the enjoyment of this world is the most important.
Unlike the tomb robbers, the antique buyers in the film are more ruthless and cunning. He almost didn't show up in the first half. Every time he came to trade, the goods were transported up by a small elevator, and the money was put down again. The tomb robbers had no part in bargaining, and everything was decided by this invisible hand.
It wasn't until he finally showed up that the tomb robbers discovered that the mysterious merchant selling stolen goods turned out to be the exquisitely dressed woman in front of them. Faced with the tomb robbers' trade requests, she was calm and determined, never giving in.
To her, past civilizations were gimmicks that could be used to package cultural relics and make their prices soar.
She is well versed in the logic of capitalist operation, and uses this logic skillfully. On the one hand, she purchases cultural relics from those shallow and ignorant tomb robbers at extremely low prices; on the other hand, she packages them in the cloak of history and culture, making these cultural relics Cultural relics appreciate in value and sell for a better price.
Of course she understands the value of civilization better than those tomb robbers, but in her eyes, all values must be ultimately converted into prices to be meaningful.
Therefore, when she watched Arthur throw the head of a precious statue into the sea, what appeared in her eyes was not regret, but joy, because this would make her statue that had lost its head even more valuable. . Just like Venus with a broken arm, it is more valuable than a complete Venus.
For Arthur, his attitude towards the past is ambiguous and at a loss.
Arthur was imprisoned for tomb robbery. After he was released from prison, he wandered around the countryside in a daze. His experience in prison made him unable to integrate into mainstream society. He lived in a simple shack and fell into longing for his ex-girlfriend. middle.
He hung out with the group of tomb robbers, on the one hand, for practical reasons and to make a living; on the other hand, he also wanted to get closer to his deceased girlfriend. In the first half of
, he became a money-making tool for tomb robbers. He only used those treasures as objects of exchange for money or as fun things to give to others. But when he saw the ruins of the goddess statue that really touched his heart, he suddenly realized that he abandoned his companions and threw the treasure he had finally found into the sea.
He thought of his lover while looking into history, felt the soul-shaking beauty, and then reflected on his own behavior. As he told the other tomb robbers: These objects were not intended for human eyes, but for the gods and the undead.
He comes from a modern civilized city, but he wanders around the Italian countryside in rags, traveling back and forth between the underground world and the above world, wandering between the past and the future.
Aren’t the attitudes of these three groups of characters towards the past and modern civilization consistent with the situation in the real world?
On one side are the vested interests who have mastered the rules of the modern civilized world; on the other are the blind followers of the "pre-modern areas" who have been baptized by modern civilization - they are delighted with the benefits brought by the capitalist business system, but they did not expect that they are just this The tiniest bit of labor in the chain can be replaced by others at any time.
Therefore, the director looked at them with complicated eyes. Aliche's own words to describe this group of people are: "How unfortunate and yet funny, so touching yet violent."
In addition to the protagonist Arthur, there is also a character that cannot be ignored in the movie-Italia. When
first appeared, Italia was a "liar" who lived in an old woman's house. While taking care of the immobile old man as a servant, she secretly raised her two children in a place where she could not see.
But at the end of the movie, she led many homeless and helpless women and children to live in an abandoned train station, establishing a "big family" that although not related by blood, could support each other. And established a close friendship with them, working together to beautify and improve this utopian "home".
What’s interesting is that this mutual aid group composed of women is in sharp contrast to the group of tomb robbers who are mainly men. They help each other, and everyone exerts their own strength, using love and tolerance, It is not interests that bring each other together.
And when the male protagonist Arthur, who was kicked out of the tomb robbing group, arrived, Italia took him in regardless of past suspicions and provided him with a new possibility of life.
Here, we can obviously see the gender perspective that director Aliche implanted in the film.
Therefore, even though Aliche’s movies are so innocent, behind the innocence lies her keen observation and in-depth thinking of reality.
As the lead actor O'Connor said: "Alice's movies are often very political."
These political expressions are often hidden in poetic film language and light narrative style.
She always tries to use a roundabout way to add a voice from the margins to the noisy mainstream narrative.
Arthur and Italia, two marginalized characters, are her buffer zones against the invasion of modernity. Arthur's obsession with love and his hesitant attitude towards modern civilization; Italia's exploration of self and alternative lifestyle choices all imply the director's protection and attachment to pure humanity and historical civilization.
At the end of the movie, Arthur did not stay in the family created by Italia. In order to continue looking for his Chimera, he joined another group of tomb robbers and went underground again.
However, the cave collapsed suddenly. When he was buried deep in the tomb, he did not call out, but walked deeper into the cave. Finally, through a thin red line above his head, he met his girlfriend again and hugged her tightly.
This is the most beautiful scene in the film, and it is also the most poetic scene. When the picture begins to flip, the underground and surface worlds begin to reverse, the past life and the present life begin to intersect, and the seemingly "impossible pursuit" finally becomes possible. He found his chimera.
In "Chimera", you can still see Aliche's innocence, but it goes without saying that in order to allow more audiences to clearly feel her expression, the narrative of the film has become stronger, and those who cannot The poetic language full of spirituality explained by logic and words gradually decreased.
This may be why "Chimera", while being more accepted by a wider audience, also lost the favor of the Cannes jury.
However, how to strike a balance between artistry and communication has always been a difficult problem that directors of literary and artistic films need to constantly explore. I hope that Aliche will become more and more comfortable on this road.
Duofu
Editor Chai Yingrui
She always tries to use a roundabout way to add a voice from the margins to the noisy mainstream narrative.
Arthur and Italia, two marginalized characters, are her buffer zones against the invasion of modernity. Arthur's obsession with love and his hesitant attitude towards modern civilization; Italia's exploration of self and alternative lifestyle choices all imply the director's protection and attachment to pure humanity and historical civilization.
At the end of the movie, Arthur did not stay in the family created by Italia. In order to continue looking for his Chimera, he joined another group of tomb robbers and went underground again.
However, the cave collapsed suddenly. When he was buried deep in the tomb, he did not call out, but walked deeper into the cave. Finally, through a thin red line above his head, he met his girlfriend again and hugged her tightly.
This is the most beautiful scene in the film, and it is also the most poetic scene. When the picture begins to flip, the underground and surface worlds begin to reverse, the past life and the present life begin to intersect, and the seemingly "impossible pursuit" finally becomes possible. He found his chimera.
In "Chimera", you can still see Aliche's innocence, but it goes without saying that in order to allow more audiences to clearly feel her expression, the narrative of the film has become stronger, and those who cannot The poetic language full of spirituality explained by logic and words gradually decreased.
This may be why "Chimera", while being more accepted by a wider audience, also lost the favor of the Cannes jury.
However, how to strike a balance between artistry and communication has always been a difficult problem that directors of literary and artistic films need to constantly explore. I hope that Aliche will become more and more comfortable on this road.
Duofu
Editor Chai Yingrui
