Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
The Keys To The House (2004)
Director: Gianni Amelio
Movie review
From Time Out London
Best known here for ‘Stolen Children’ (1992), Italian realist Gianni Amelio again proffers a potentially mawkish story of tainted childhood – this time, mercifully, with far less sentimentality than in the earlier film. The child here is 15-year-old Paolo (Andrea Rossi), who suffers from muscular dystrophy and has been living with his late mother’s family ever since his father Gianni (Kim Rossi Stuart – no relation to the younger actor) abandoned him as a baby. Now, it seems, Gianni’s at last ready to take responsibility – on his first encounter with the boy, he’s taking him for tests and treatment at a special children’s hospital in Berlin. Will he be up to the task? That his son’s mostly a cheerful, independent sort helps more than it hinders (though it does both); useful too is advice offered by Nicole (Charlotte Rampling), whose daughter – also at the clinic – requires an unthinkable amount of time and attention. In the end, though, there’s no single sure way of making such relationships work…Amelio’s film succeeds primarily because it’s not a sob-story about the suffering of the disabled, but a tougher take on the problems, pressures and pain faced by parents of children in need of unending, constant care. Working from a screenplay co-written with Sandro Petraglia and Stefano Rulli (‘The Best of Youth’), he sensibly builds the film around the charismatic Rossi, who responds with a beautifully open performance. At first Nicole appears too serenely wise, and there are implausible, needless contrivances (Gianni entrusted with taking abroad a disabled boy he’s never even met), but overall this is a sensitive, intelligent, insightful movie.
Author: GA
Time Out London Issue 1806: March 30-April 6 2005
Cast & crew
Director: Gianni Amelio
Cast: Charlotte Rampling, Andrea Rossi, Kim Rossi Stuart
Rated: PG
Duration: 105 mins
UK Release: Apr 1 2005
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Time Out's 101 Films of the Decade
Ten years, thousands of movies and millions of dollars in international box office, and it all boils down to this
Martin Provost discusses 'Séraphine'
Trevor Johnston talks to the director of 'Séraphine' about bringing a little known French painter back to life
Our verdict on Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones
Peter Jackson ends a triumphant decade with a sentimental misfire with this lush Alice Sebold adaptation
On the set of Ken Loach's 'Route Irish'
Dave Calhoun meets Ken Loach on the set of his forthcoming Iraq war movie
Stephen Poliakoff discusses 'Glorious 39'
Stephen Poliakoff’s ‘Glorious 39’ is his first film for cinema since ‘Food of Love’ in 1997. Dave Calhoun met him
Is 'Paranormal Activity' the new 'Blair Witch'?
How does a film go from DIY experiment to box-office smash? 'Paranormal Activity' director Oren Peli explains
Steven Soderbergh on 'The Informant!' and 'The Girlfriend Experience'
We talk to Steven Soderbergh about his two forthcoming films: one featuring a porn star, the other a chubby Matt Damon
A gateway to all things 'New Moon'
In anticipation of 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon', Time Out is offering the chance to pick up a limited edition pack with three exclusive magazines and a free poster.
The films that deserve a TV spin-off
With Roland Emmerich suggesting he'd like to make a '2012' TV spin-off, we propose some more movie-to-TV serialisations
Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam
In celebration of the release of Pixar's 'Up' and Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', read our rundown of fifty classic feature length animations












What do you think?
Post your review now