The Keys to the House

This movie could have been extremely heartwarming, considering the handicaps of the young boy and his struggles to be a functioning part of society, along with his relationship with his 'new' dad. I was expecting such tremendous emotion and drama, and the story left me with so many questions about the normalcy of it all. One thing that really disturbed me, and I'm suspecting this to be as a result of it being a foreign film, is that as cheesy as it sometimes may be, the film was sorely lacking background music. That missing element made the experience dry compared to what it could have been. The young boy playing Andrea was absolutely inspiring, though, and I found myself wondering how it must have been for him to memorize lines and follow directions in the making of this movie. Charlotte Rampling performed beautifully and convincingly. The father was just plain beautiful; I had a difficult time figuring out his character. My recommendation for this film is really 50-50.

A love story. Or a friend story. Beautiful for the science to use the right tone about a delicate and painful problem. A touching portrait of parenthood. And its nuances. And its price. And its limits. After its end, the basic thing who remains, long time, alive in memory, is its special simplicity. Delicate, convincing, touching. Like a confession. With its lovely form of poetry of small, basic things. With the science to not be more than honest exposure of well known facts. For the flavor of personal story. And , not the last, as the expected film.

We thought this was a touching story of the real tragedy of a parent dealing with the life-long disability, all the more so since this parent had walked away so early in child's life. We were much impressed with Charlotte Rampling, who we have seen in many good roles, who gave a marvelous portrayal of parent who have given her whole life to the care of her own daughter, willingly, but with the admonishment to the younger father in brutal honestly, to be prepared to suffer. We also wonder about her use of languages. Last film we saw she spoke French, and in this one Italian and German. Does she really speak these all, or her words dubbed in? We're glad she is working and always a true professional.

Gianni (Kim Rossi Stuart) has never seen his son Paolo, who is disabled. But Fate makes them meet, Gianni accompanies him to Germany where the child can follow a new therapy... It is also a trip where the young father tries to catch up with the relationship with his son. In hospital Gianni meets a woman (Charlotte Rampling) who has a also a disabled daughter, a woman which teaches him very much about accepting differences.

Gianni Amelio doesn't direct a spectacular movie about handicap (it's not like "Rain Man"), he directs a road movie which seems sometimes (from a technical point of view) a documentary. There's not room for too many tears, dramas and moralistic considerations. It's a pretty film which has the goal of showing problems the way they are, without exaggerations. There's much reality and humanity.

I've got to say that this film had touched me so much in both simple and extraordinary ways. There are lots of drama movies out there whose theme seems to rust off compared to this one, and I proclaim to be heart-touched. Le Chiavi di Casa or also known as The keys to the house, had made the most authentic impact to our modern lives. The story runs with to main characters of Gianni (Kim Rossi Stuart) and Paolo (Andrea Rossi), whose relationship are embraced by new encounter of a father and son relationship. Gianni who haven't met his son since her wife died of giving birth to Paolo had found a chance to finally meet him. Paolo on the other hand who suffered a mildly intricate condition of being handicapped attempts to forge as well a connection with his father he never met before (and I never imagined that Andrea Rossi did really suffered a real life Muscular Dystrophy—which fitted him in the role, and thanks to the part of Gianni Amelio who earned and molded Andrea's confidence). The eloquence of the story showed the archetypal impact between a young father who haven't seen his son and tries to build unyielding relationship with a son by ways of bidding his entire life to the only family he got—Paolo.

Though the original copy of this movie sold for an expensive rate of price in our place, I would really love to spend my time watching movie with explicit sincerity and magnificence. Le Chiavi de Casa had proved not only my money but as well my time and heart worthwhile.