Keyhole: Impenetrable Film About Forgiveness

TV & DVD

Keyhole

- 19/10/2012

Keyhole: Impenetrable Film About Forgiveness

Isabella RosselliniJason Patric...
DramaMystery & Suspense
Out now
Guy Maddin

reviewed by

Yasmin Shehab

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Keyhole: Impenetrable Film About Forgiveness

Ulysses (Patric) is a gangster and an absentee father and husband. After a shootout with the police, he returns to his house and walks through it with a gagged man and a blind girl, looking for his wife, Hyancinth (Rossellini). The rooms that they walk through and the various objects scattered through the house trigger his memory, helping him to recall various episodes that led to his life being one of sorrow and pain.

The film has a really strong classic gangster flick feel to it. While watching, there’s this voice in your head wondering whether the kitschy acting and editing style are meant to be taken seriously or whether it’s an ironic choice. The black and white cinematography, the vintage costumes, the finger waves and the décor all point to it being a legitimate homage. However, the exaggerated acting style – which is slightly reminiscent of theatre – the score and the cheesy reaction shots make it seem like the filmmaker is using the classic gangster vibe to make a point or send some sort of message.

This murkiness extends to other aspects of the film. There’s an absolute torrent of characters – many of them ghosts – that are really hard to keep track of. Each one of them means something different to Ulysses but what that exactly is, isn’t always clear. And this isn’t a case of things being left deliberately ambiguous; the film feels genuinely confused or like it isn’t interested in letting us in on the whole story.

It’s not a conventional film nor is it trying to be, but even more surrealistic works need to be accessible in one way or another. Hyacinth’s chained father acts as an occasional narrator, telling us a bit about Ulysses and making general observations about his progress through the house. And while the narration feels awfully on the nose, like it’s dictating something that’s a lot more open visually, it still doesn’t open up the film much. Nor does the film provide you with some sort of structure within which you can try to analyse the characters’ motives or the reason behind their presence in the film in the first place.

On the plus side, the film is gorgeous to look at and Patric is phenomenal as Ulysses, the average guy in a surreal world. His quest for forgiveness is often quite moving and his drive keeps the film anchored as it wades through ghosts, dusty memories and secret passageways.

Keyhole isn’t a bad film but its vagueness and impenetrability really depends on your temperament as a film viewer and your tolerance for a more artsy fare.