Les clefs de la maison

I just saw this film, and since I don't like to talk about scenes in the film because I don't wish to spoil it for those who haven't seen it, I wanted to at least give my recommendation, and high praise for this piece. This is a film you have to see for yourself, the performances delivered are some of the best I have ever seen. It is so deeply moving and touching. My face was literally a faucet through the whole film, and I don't recall ever seeing and film that made that happen to me. As an actress myself, I can only hope to someday deliver performance such as the ones in this movie. There is so much said in this film without words, I was so deeply impressed. Needless to say, I give this 10 stars, and I heartily recommend it to everyone. *Note: It helps to have a box of Kleenex and a strong heart to watch this, also if you watch this and don't get "any" of it (for I know some may have trouble) you need to watch it again, because everything that needs to be said is there and more*

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.

This is the first Amelio movie to be released in the US, at least in a Film Festival setting, in over ten years since Lamerica. But the director's style is still memorable. The camera scans slowly the lost faces of the actors without pity or shame. There is no plastic, no trinkets, no nudging at the spectator. We are there watching and not, it's not really as straightforward as we'd want it.

As in "Stolen Children" or "Lamerica", the main character ambles on scene, uncertain of his role in the life of others or just very mistaken. It learns--maybe, the hard way, one feeling at the time. Kim Rossi Stuart takes the place of Enrico Lo Verso, with a similar style, eyes lost and the silence prevailing over revelatory dialog, but the star is his son in the movie, Andrea Rossi There are no cheap shot. There is no need to. Piety, compassion come from something deeper, and Amelio definitely gets to the grittier level of human emotion. Charlotte Rampling has an amazing role, as the mother of young handicapped woman and the symbolic chorus for the interior dialog of the protagonist. And the dialog is pure and scary as it can be.

It's refreshing to see such moving work that skillfully avoids all the traps of classic Hollywood tearjerkers. The movie reminded me rather of Kenzaburo Oe's "Teach Us to Outgrow our Madness", but it's actually inspired to Giuseppe Pontiggia's "Nati due Volte" (Born Twice), and Amelio pays homage both to the writer and the book in the course of the movie.

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.

Story about love, duty and the shadows of past. About the touch of two different worlds, about a child and his father and the forms of beauty and freedom. A movie about essential things of passing days and the heart of words, images and appearances. A film of an actor, the impressive Andrea Rossi, delicate, expressive, natural. Basic, manifesto for understand a disease. In fact, lesson about the science to discover the other. About the way for be yourself. A film as a water. Colors, nuances, gravel. And subtle interpretation of Charlotte Rampling, the strain of Stuart Rossi's character and the gestures of special star - Andrea Rossi. Touching, profound and natural. A movie like a time of world's contemplation in deep silence. As walk on the beach in the evening. Or a time of talk with your feelings.