The Key
1983 · Directed by Tinto Brass
Original language: Italian
- drama
- romance
The story
In 1940s Venice, after twenty years' marriage, retired art critic Nino Rolfe and his younger wife Teresa feel their passion waning. To help her shed her inhibitions and rekindle their relationship, the professor records his sexual fantasies in a diary.
What it’s like
Lush, overheated frames of Venetian palazzi, with candlelit bedrooms, dusty antique clutter and water-reflected light through shutters, shot in a restless style that drifts, pans and zooms in close on faces and bodies. The palette leans toward warm ochres, deep reds and faded gold, and the wartime city feels humid, claustrophobic and faintly decadent, its canals and courtyards hemmed in by old stone. The score is ornate and playful, and the diary narration gives the whole thing a confessional, sly voice. The mood is erotic and unsettled, with a bitter, wry undertow: an aging scholar's jealousy and fantasy slide into voyeurism, humiliation and a tangle of desire. It suits a late night alone or a dark, unhurried evening rather than casual background viewing. Pacing is languid, with long stretches of talk and staring punctuated by sudden sexual scenes. Sexual content is frequent and explicit, with full nudity and graphic sex; there is some cruelty and emotional humiliation, and the wartime backdrop brings fascist menace, but there is no gore and little conventional violence. It is for viewers who want an adult, provocative, stylised erotic drama about obsession and the fragility of marriage, not something gentle.
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