In an era dominated by movie universes, TV series, and remakes, filmmakers who insist on producing original works, especially those continuously contemplating the meaning of individual existence and exploring the subtle worlds, appear exceptionally precious. Alice Rohrwacher is a filmmaker who has steadfastly made films defying easy categorization for years. From "Heavenly Body" to "The Wonders," and perhaps more familiar to the general audience, "Happy as Lazzaro."
As an Italian filmmaker, Alice Rohrwacher infuses her films with a rich tapestry of local culture. Yet, they feel remarkably light, carrying the hues of fairy tales while blending theatricality, comedy, and dark humor. This multifaceted style makes her work feel like a symphony, breaking the boundaries of narrative and aesthetics. Rohrwacher's latest film "La chimera" was nominated for the Palme d'Or at Cannes this year. While it didn't win the award, "La chimera" is often regarded as one of the standout films of the year by many critics. It's a powerful work that defies easy summary and invites in-depth discussions.
A peculiar tale of tomb raiding
In our common storytelling framework, tomb raiding isn't just an activity; it embodies a storytelling genre. It's associated with themes like wealth, treasure hunting, adventurous journeys, the thrill of discovery, and the excitement of uncovering a mystery. However, in certain contexts, tomb raiding is condemned with sadness, as it involves displacing rare artifacts and destroying their preciousness. Both viewpoints focus on the "objects" as if these ancient "artifacts" were the ultimate beings. But is that truly the case? "La chimera" disrupts both of these narratives at once.
At the outset of "La chimera," a young man named Arthur arrives in Italy dressed in tattered, dirty linen suit. He seems like a seed carried by the wind, unable to take root anywhere. Only after a while, the film reveals his uncanny ability—Arthur can seemingly "communicate" with the underground, using his sixth sense to locate relics and artifacts buried beneath the earth.
Arthur becomes involved with a group of tomb raiders living in a makeshift shantytown made of rusty metal sheets. This "tomb raiding crew" lives a destitute yet liberated life, resembling an anarchist commune. They use clever strategies to raid tombs and survive. Despite their seemingly grim circumstances, their lives are also vibrant and full of energy. Through glimpses of their lives, we discover that Arthur is not motivated by wealth and artifacts but is trying to uncover a connection between the world of the dead and the living to trace the steps of his lost loved one.
"La chimera" portrays this quest with subtlety; the film doesn't dwell excessively on the melancholy of this exploration but rather highlights Arthur's passion for the artifacts he discovers. He looks at them with a profound fondness, delicately cleaning them. However, he starts to realize that his life of tomb raiding disrupts the underworld he holds dear.
In the film's climax, Arthur discovers a forgotten temple beneath a vast power plant beneath a beach. Inside, there is a silent and graceful white marble statue of a woman, along with simple ritualistic relics from early faiths, and vibrant wall paintings depicting various birds and animals. However, human intrusion quickly disrupts everything; the outside air causes the colours in the paintings to fade away. While we see many priceless treasures, our presence robs them of their beauty and vitality.
At the Cannes Film Festival, Alice Rohrwacher spoke about her intentions behind choosing the tomb-raiding-tomb-raiding theme. She doesn't see these activities merely as "illegal"; tomb raiders are "intruding" into these places, taking away items meant to be hidden and unseen, viewing history through an entirely different lens, and no longer cherishing the past. Of course, it's not just tomb raiders; academia and museums complicitly play a role in this chain.
Ultimately, Arthur conflicts with the tomb raiders and finds himself buried underground. The pavement above grows over with tangled grass, sprouting from every crevice. Some weeds emerge from the cool, dark underground, breaking through the cracks of the soil. Arthur follows these grasses, breaking the boundary between above and below, heading towards the sunlight.
The Buried Etruscan Civilization
What we witness here isn't a simplistic narrative of "emerging from darkness into light." These tomb raiders aren't mere antagonists or profit-driven "common folk" existing solely to contrast the protagonist. During the idle chat, a one-tomb raider whispered one of the film's core messages: "If the Etruscans were still around, maybe Italy's patriarchy wouldn't be so severe."
When considering Italian civilization, one often thinks of ancient Rome. Rome's remarkable achievements include expanding from the Italian peninsula to establish a vast empire around the Mediterranean. This legacy includes literature, art, law, public infrastructure, and religious beliefs that profoundly influenced modern civilization.
Yet, before Rome, a brilliant civilization flourished like a shooting star from around the 10th to the 3rd century BCE—the Etruscan civilization, whose tomb owners in "La chimera" frequently attract tomb raiders. Etruria was renowned at its peak, stretching from the Alps to the Strait of Sicily. However, with the dominant rise of ancient Rome, it gradually declined, assimilated, and ultimately vanished.
The Etruscan language is dead, and no literary records exist. Fortunately, through archaeological excavations, we catch glimpses of a vibrant era within the fragments of daily life. This lesser-known ancient civilization evokes the term "lost civilization," often burdened with antiquated and clichéd connotations, primarily fuelled by popular culture. It conjures images of Indiana Jones speeding through deserts or brave explorers trekking through rainforests, unearthing long-buried, awe-inspiring remnants of civilizations hidden by sand or forest for centuries, now brought back to light.
This is the typical narrative of a "lost civilization," which Lucy Shipley, a researcher of Etruscan civilization and historian, vehemently opposes in "The Etruscans: Lost Civilizations." She argues that the term "lost civilization" carries connotations of othering and belittlement. Modern society seems disconnected from the ancestors who created these extraordinary monuments. The "lost civilization" must be lost, deliberately forgotten by unworthy descendants. It is only through archaeologists "rediscovering" it, excavating artifacts, transporting them to museums, and researching them in academic journals.
In contrast, the widely acclaimed and discussed ancient Roman civilization is often hailed as the source of admiration in fields such as European political systems, law, and mechanical engineering, seen as a "proud" civilization. But is it so? Numerous studies attest that elements of the Etruscan civilization persisted, whether in material artifacts and relics or ideological and expressive aspects, deeply embedded in later ancient Rome and Western modern civilization.
Known and unknown, fleeting and seemingly eternal, lost and discovered civilizations—the reality is never black and white, much like Alice Rohrwacher's films. As we delve into forgotten things, the fractured bonds gradually reconnect, bridging the gap between the living and the dead.
The Etruscan civilization might be likened to the tangled grass in the film. Perhaps their people are gone, their reign dissolved, and their civilization buried deep underground. Still, it will not fade into the river of time forever. One day, the thick dust covering the old relics will be swept away, and the deeply engraved traces they left behind will be unearthed and rejuvenated in ways we can hardly imagine.
Alice Rohrwacher also excavates these fragments of civilization in her way. At this year's Cannes Film Festival, she mentioned that her homeland is the land where the Etruscans once lived. In her childhood, almost every plot of land could yield ancient artifacts buried long ago. Thus, the relationship between the soil and the underworld has always fascinated Alice Rohrwacher, making her feel deeply connected to history.
Sometimes, renewal emerges from destruction, from the dismantling of seemingly entrenched "traditions" and "norms." In the latter part of the film, as the era changes and civilization crumbles, a tomb raider whispers, "Perhaps it's time for patriarchy again." One of the most striking and unexpected aspects of Etruscan civilization for modern audiences is gender equality. Unlike in ancient Rome and Greece, where women's identities were often overshadowed by their husbands' after marriage, Etruscan women could retain their names on tombstones. They were buried with weapons and many items traditionally considered unsuitable for women. Murals also depict them working, no different from men.
In the latter part of the film, the maternal tradition of the vanished Etruria civilization is revived within an abandoned train station. Many once-wandering, lonely women gather, forming a symbiotic and supportive extended family, still sharing many joyful moments despite the hardships.
Renowned novelist D. H. Lawrence found great inspiration in the Etruscan civilization, particularly their free-spirited and morally unconstrained way of life. This fascination influenced his writing, including the famous work "Lady Chatterley's Lover." Even in their tombs, evidence suggests that the Etruscans lived vibrant lives. Lawrence described them as "simple, natural, vigorous, whimsical, and arbitrary," traits he admired. Three thousand years later, Alice Rohrwacher's film captures and continues this sense of joy and vitality.
People from Two Worlds
Today, we're discussing a different topic than archaeology. In "La chimera," Etruria's portrayal is not a celebration of its past glory but rather the opposite. Alice Rohrwacher approaches this ancient civilization with subtlety, restraint, and reflection, avoiding a textbook-like presentation. It's only halfway through the film that the connection to Etruria becomes clear.
Alice Rohrwacher believes that the protagonist Arthur in "La chimera" has a talent for exploring the underground, and she suggests that each of us has a similar "superpower." It's not mysterious; as long as you're willing, we can all delve into those civilizations in our own ways. The boundaries between ancient and modern, different peoples, races, or cultures naturally dissolve in the process of exploration.
In Italy, the past and present have always coexisted. Alice Rohrwacher gives an example: next to a gas station, there might be a Roman-era drainage ditch, still interconnected today. Many modern things coexist with remnants from various historical periods, physically and metaphorically "close." Thus, the tension between the old and the new pervades Alice Rohrwacher's films, and the civilizations of two different periods are not entirely antagonistic.
"La chimera" also contains shadows of modernity, but more naturally and subtly. For example, a significant event in the latter part of the film occurs on a filthy beach. What was once a beautiful beach is now filled with life garbage and wastewater in the post-industrial age. Alice Rohrwacher attempts to deconstruct the traditional rural landscapes because the former "beauty" was merely imagined; its natural environment is too easily contaminated, disconnecting from the modern world. She never shies away from showcasing this "ugliness," whether it's ubiquitous plastic bags or garbage artwork.
In "La chimera," tomb raiders, who were once limited to plundering in their hometowns, find themselves caught up in a globalized and highly capitalized art market—a world that seems to conflict with their own. Their experiences reflect real-life struggles between marginalized individuals and the impacts of globalization, creating a sense of powerlessness and alienation in a technologically advanced world. As modernization sweeps through, tensions between tradition and modernity emerge, highlighting the challenges faced by marginalized groups.
Alice Rohrwacher suggests that the relationship between the present and time is not linear. She believes that the "contemporary" is a mix of different temporalities, requiring individuals to find their place in the present moment. Rohrwacher herself has always sought her space and position within these diverse temporalities. The protagonists in her films are like tightrope walkers, navigating between tradition on one side and the mysteries of the unknown on the other. Through this perspective, Rohrwacher highlights the absurdity of human division and fragmentation, showing that all seemingly disconnected elements are actually parts of the same whole.
Sacred and secular, natural and artificial, ancient and modern—these elements continually intertwine and meld into one another, embodying the norm of today's world. The film's title, "La chimera," might serve as a metaphor, representing a chimera—a hybrid creature from mythology. Aren't we, too, just hybrids on our own?
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