Dir: Alice Rohrwacher | Italy, France, Switzerland | 2023 | 133 mins | Subtitled

Cast | Josh O’Connor, Carol Duarte, Vincenzo Nemolato, Isabella Rossellini, Alba Rohrwacher

Josh O’Connor (Netflix’s The Crown, God’s Own Country, Challengers) plays a melancholy tomb-robber in Alice Rohrwacher’s (The Wonders, Happy as Lazzaro) captivating fable of love and treasure.

Tuscany, 1980s: An Englishman in a grimy linen suit, Arthur (O’Connor) is fresh out of prison. Yearning for his former lover, the daughter of a local aristocrat (Isabella Rossellini), he falls in with the tombaroli, a rowdy crew who loot the area’s ancient burial sites for artefacts to sell on the black market.

Located halfway between the dead and the living, with a wonderful performance from O’Connor and beautifully shot by Hélène Louvart, La Chimera is a wild, sweet ode to the power and fragility of lovely things, and a cautionary tale about how easily they may be lost.

“A joyous, masterful work of folk magic” Sight & Sound

Cinema Speak - Thursday 4th July at 8pm

Join Ben Reynolds for a post screening discussion after the film. This is a chance for audiences to have an informal chat about their reactions to the film over a drink in The Gallery, as well as an exciting opportunity to see independent and international films not often found locally.

It's free to attend, just turn up after the film! All Cinema Speak screenings are subtitled, including english language films.