La Chimera
It is intriguing how Rohrwacher portrays grave sacking as a means to escape from society. "Not a real job", as the old woman's daughters imply. Yet these diggers exist in a parallel system: if the modern world can't fulfill their own dreams, one might as well look for it into the remnants of the past to pick up anything from those glory days. These sackers enjoy life to its fullest, regardless of circumstances. Rohrwacher puts the perspective of a character who has lost his beloved one in order to approach this analogy through a more precise lens: His entire reason to partake into grave digging, explicitly rejecting the possibility of a normal life within society, is to feel closer to his love, as he remains in contact with death and the afterlife, implied by his supernatural perception. A goddess statue shows up in his life, bringing him thoughts of his love, yet it is only seen by others in the business as a means to earn money, and despairs when the head is severed...