Hypericum

Fior’s meditative latest (after Celestia) glides between time periods and story lines to sketch a poignant historical fiction centered on a young Italian researcher. Teresa Guerrero has moved to 1990s Berlin to open a museum exhibit on King Tutankhamun's treasure, but often finds herself trapped outside of time—she suffers from chronic insomnia and anxiety that warps her perception of reality. In the late hours, she obsesses over a volume by archeologist Howard Carter about his excavation of King Tut’s tomb in the 1920s, drawing comparisons between the ancient Egyptian perception of time and her own distortions. When she meets the brash and forward Ruben, a hobbyist painter and idealistic punk who invites her to stay at his squat, they begin a tumultuous and erotic tryst. Teresa is troubled by Ruben’s lack of interest in both her work and his own minor artistic ambitions, and finds herself musing to him about “the ideal of eternity,” as he falls asleep. Fior’s lithely drawn and cinematic art lights up characters’ facial expressions, while the washed tones heighten Teresa’s mental deterioration. Though the twists and turns in the couple’s relationship somewhat strain credulity, they ring true to the notion that the past doesn’t always predict the future. This artfully executed romance lays out a banquet of arresting ideas. (Feb.)