Le Chiavi Di Casa (The Keys to the House) (2004) (Italy)

[hengcs]

Director: Gianni Amelio
Cast: Kim Rossi Stuart, Andrea Rossi, Charlotte Rampling


In the Venice Film Festival 2004, it garnered the
-- Pasinetti Award - Best Film
-- Pasinetti Award - Best Actor (Kim Rossi Stuart)
-- Sergio Trasatti Award - Gianni Amelio
-- 'CinemAvvenire' Award - Best Film

Expectedly, this film was Italy's submission to the Oscar in 2005.
;)


What I like ...
-- Definitely the entire cast, they carried their roles very well. In particular, Kim Rossi Stuart and Charlotte Rampling displayed very controlled performance.
-- All the dialogues were so realistic, with a script that did not seek to be too melodramatic nor unbelievable. Instead, it told of very genuine thoughts and emotions ...
;)
Yup, it had the potential to be very weepy ... but that was not the intent ... Instead, it tried to create mixed feelings in the audience (like the father) ... it had a mix of fun and upset ... it had a mix of hope and dismay ... it had a mix of serenity and anxiety ... etc
-- There were a few very good scenes,
e.g., ALL the conversations between the two adults
e.g., the therapy scene
e.g., the last scene with the father and the kid


What may be problematic ...
-- The trip to Norway was kind of lame ... Also, their choice of Germany over Italy for therapy was not well explained ...
-- As the film was not events driven, some audience might get bored after a while ...
-- Depending on individuals, some audience might also not feel much for the protagonists because the emotions were not uniformly sad throughout ...
-- The female character was not fully developed nor "ended" ...
-- Finally, although I did not think so, some might find the ending too abrupt ...


Conclusion:
If you like a film with realistic character study, go for it.
If you prefer plot over characters, then do not bother ...

[trevor826]

Le Chiavi Di Casa (The Keys to the House - 2004 Italy)

I think most of us find it hard to watch a film where one of the central characters is severely disabled, just as in real life we’re unsure how to deal with it. Strange considering how many of us are more than happy to sit through a film concerning somebody dying of a disease like cancer, personally I find that even more difficult to deal with in reality.

I avoided this film in the cinema because I was concerned that it would be overloaded with sentimental melodramatics, playing the sympathy card, but I’m glad to say that isn’t the case. A simple tale of a father and his 15 year old son meeting and trying to connect for the first time since his birth, why the separation? Because the child is disabled? No, the truth comes out as the father opens up to the mother of a disabled girl receiving treatment in the same hospital, it’s because he associates his son with the loss of his partner who died during childbirth.

Guilt is just one of the stumbling blocks between father and son, 15 years is a hell of a long time to make up for, the anxiety of trying to make a relationship, find some sort of connection and learn to deal with the disability is at times overwhelming. As for the son, he’s not out to punish his father or even to accept him as his father. To the son hospital and his disability is a way of life, a normality and the one thing he tries to emphasise to his father is that he doesn’t need or want sympathy, he needs his independence and goes out of his way to show it.

The mother of the disabled girl is played brilliantly by Charlotte Rampling, uncompromisingly honest in a way I’m sure many parents of disabled children feel but can never bring themselves to actually say, there is a section where the camera stays unflinchingly on her face, nothing is said, no gestures are made but you can feel the pain and burden that she has ceaselessly carried for so many years.

The end worried me, was this going to be a film of the father’s redemption, would there be this exaggerated heart warming/churning display of familial forgiveness? Thankfully no, it stayed as honest as the rest of the film and that's a good thing.

Recommended viewing, if you give it a miss, it’ll be your loss.

Cheers Trev.

BBFC rated PG

R2 Pal dvd released by Artificial Eye in the UK.

[oscar jubis]

The Keys to the House's director Gianni Amelio and Nani Moretti are the only two consistently good Italian directors (as far as I'm concerned, and assuming 93 y.o. maestro Antonioni has retired). If they were prolific, Italian cinema wouldn't look as poor.
The keys to the House is also available on region 1 dvd. I'll be posting a review in a few weeks.

[oscar jubis]

Well, I finally watched this film written and directed by Gianni Amelio (Lamerica), officially a 2004 release in the US, a very limited release I might add. The reason the release did not expand has to do, in my opinion, with its virtues. As Trevor and hengcs have explained, this is a simple tale: how a man comes to terms with having abandoned his disabled child for 15 years and how he learns to deal with the love, shame, guilt, and frustration he feels when they reunite. No schmaltz, no forced plot twists, no swelling music score, just matter-of-fact honest interaction between characters. Kim Rossi Stuart and Andrea Rossi (no relation) are very good as father and son. Some of their scenes have an improvisational quality (I wonder if the extras included in the European dvd but not in the North American disc (Region 1) provide confirmation). Charlotte Rampling, as the mother of a disabled woman who serves as both audience surrogate and impromptu spiritual adviser to the young father, is brilliant indeed.

[Chris Knipp]

Didn't see these responses of trevor and Oscar earlier. Yes, some of the action is improvised, actually quite a lot, based on the personality of the boy. That is confirmed in European discussions that I accessed last year. I have a lot of respect for this film, it was my first Gianni Amelio and has led me to go on and watch others, but I have still not gone far in his oeurve. Saw it in Paris and then again later in New York with English subtitles. I too would recommend this. It is based on an autobiographical novel by Giuseppe Pottiglia, Nati due vole (born twice.) I have a copy but have not gotten around to reading it. I think it's a bit hard saying there are only two good italian directors, but I'll admit the production doesn't look very good these days. Some things don't even get a good showing in Italy itself but area allowed to die quietly. What about Matteo Garrone of L'imbalsamatore? What about Pupi Avati? i like Marco Ponti's recent work.....