TJE 7/25 - Keyhole (2012)

A Guy Maddin film is always an odd thing to experience. The Canadian filmmaker, known for "Brand Upon the Brain," "My Winnipeg," and "The Saddest Music in the World," was clearly born in the wrong decade. He prefers the styles and sensibilities of films from the 1920s and 1930s. He works predominantly in black and white, borrowing imagery and common tropes from the Prohibition and Depression eras, and uses a surreal, expressionist style that can be narratively incoherent.

So take the description of his latest film, "Keyhole," with a grain of salt. The marketing copy tells us it s the story of a gangster, Ulysses (Jason Patric), who returns home after many years in search of his wife Hyacinth (Isabella Rossellini), who has confined herself to the huge, labyrinthine house. Ulysses searches the house room by room, with a hostage (David Wontner), a blind girl (Brooke Palsson), and the remnants of his gang in tow. Ghosts and phantoms dog their every step. Sounds like a very nice little supernatural thriller doesn't it? I hope no unsuspecting horror fans picks this up, because they won't have any idea what they're getting themselves into.

The first scene of "Keyhole" shows the gang fighting their way into the house, which has been surrounded by the police. Those who have made it inside are ordered to separate themselves into two groups. The ones who are still alive may continue. The ones who are dead are told they must stay behind. The film is narrated by Hyacinth's father (Louis Negin), a naked old man who has been chained to his daughter's bedpost. He's probably dead too, along with most of Ulysses and Hyacinth's children, who keep making appearances throughout the film. The old man informs us that happiness disperses once the inhabitants of a house have gone, but sadness lingers and haunts, Ulysses' journey through the house is a journey through memories. There are many things that he has forgotten that he must remember, and many things that he never knew that must be discovered.

Maddin's usual obsessions are all on display: unhappy families, psychological and sexual neuroses, ghosts who treat their deaths quite matter-of-factly, ambiguous physical environments, and old movie magic. This time, however, it feels like he's trying too hard. We're supposed to find the nightmarish interior of the house disorienting and dreamlike. Maddin bounces lights and shadows from the windows over the characters as they converse, cuts quick montages of half-visible images, and piles dissolves one on top of the other. There's some vaguely menacing sexual deviancy going on around the edges of the story, including a very lost-looking Kevin MacDonald from "Kids in the Hall" having an endless tryst with a French prostitute. It's all so bizarre, but a familiar, clumsy kind of bizarre. For the first half hour of the film I was unmoved, feeling like I'd wandered into a student film made by someone who'd watched David Lynch's "Eraserhead" a few too many times.

However, as Ulysses worms deeper and deeper in the house, and the history of his screwed-up family begins to unfold, the most excessive stylization settles down. "Keyhole" eventually becomes a more languid exploration of a broken marriage, digging up all the forgotten little incidents and events that lead to its ruin. A broken bowl, a dead son, and too many long absences are brought up again and again. Ulysses and Hyacinth have whispered conversations through keyholes, though they always seem to be a considerable distance apart. Various figures try to hamper or delay the reunion, and are dealt with one by one. Perhaps they are symbolic of other forces that kept the couple apart originally - filial duty, Ulysses’ criminal activity, infidelity - but sorting through all the layers of abstraction and ambiguity would require a much longer review than I have space for.

The cast is impressive, particularly Jason Patric and Isabella Rossellini, who provide moments of emotional clarity that are vital in anchoring the film amidst all the dream imagery. They fit the period setting without any problems, but it's really their ability to convey unusual, unworldly emotional states that I found the most striking. Louis Negin is a lot of fun as the sneering father-in-law, contemptuously feeding the audience information about the rest of the unfortunate family, in order to point out their many shortcomings. You can also spot Udo Kier making a brief appearance as a doctor.

If you're a fan of Guy Maddin, "Keyhole" should be familiar territory. I think it's probably one of his messier and more self-indulgent films, and can test the patience, but it has some good moments that it may be worth the time to dig out. If you're not familiar with the director, however, this is not the best of his films to start with. I'd suggest the far more accessible "My Winnipeg." And if you're not keen on experimental films at all, then best steer clear of "Keyhole" entirely.
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