THE KEY (1983) - Cult Epics

The Key (La Chaive)
Cult Epics

Original Release Date Oct. 19th, 1983 (Italy)
Written by Tinto Brass, based on the novel Kagi by Jun'ichirô Tanizaki
Directed by Tinto Brass
Starring Frank Finlay, Stefania Sandrelli, Franco Branciaroli, Barbara Cupisti
Language English

Get your copy HERE from Diabolik, or HERE from Orbit

by "Doc" Hunter Bush, MovieJawn Podcast Director and Staff Writer 

The Movie: Good

Tinto Brass is perhaps most well-known for the film Caligula (1979), an erotic depiction of the late Roman emperor's reign starring Malcolm McDowell, Peter O'Toole, and Helen Mirren which had a messy post production, was received generally negatively but has become something of a cult classic. The Key, while nowhere near as ambitious or expensive, is widely regarded as Brass' masterpiece and, whether you agree with that assessment or not, is certainly more cohesive a vision.

I can't really begin to talk about this film without first addressing the elephant in the room: this is an erotic film. It exists to titillate and arouse, and it does so directly. The sex and sexual situations depicted are the point; The Key is about the sex. Just as folks may not enjoy horror movies, or documentaries, erotica is not going to be everyone's cup of tea. I believe, whether or not the genre is your thing, you can still discuss the artistic merits of a piece.

To that end, The Key is actually very impressive. Well-shot, fairly well-acted, with gorgeous locales and mostly very beautiful people, The Key is also a shockingly solid character piece. Art professor Nino Rolfe (Frank Finlay) is frustrated in his wife Teresa (Stefania Sandrelli)'s lack of libido and sexual creativity. To that end, he manufactures a scenario to unleash her sexual id: he leaves a key somewhere she is certain to find it, knowing she'll be too curious to refuse finding what it unlocks, which is a drawer in his desk containing a journal in which he has been writing about his sexual frustrations and fantasies.

Things spiral from there. At a dinner with their daughter Lisa (Barbara Cupisti) and her fiancé Laszlo (Franco Branciaroli), Teresa initially seems to be playing along and flirting with Laszlo to excite and tease Nino, before she ends up fainting which requires an injection into her buttock, delivered by Laszlo. This begins a back-and-forth between Nino and Teresa where each tries to call the others' bluff before Teresa stops caring and just has a full-on affair with Laszlo.

Stefania Sandrelli had been a celebrity since she was a teenager and, at 37 years old, she viewed taking such a literally and emotionally naked role as the potential start of a new stage in her career. As Teresa, she's wonderful and exudes sensuality. Her sexual awakening is presented as the story's main focus, with Nino quickly sliding down a moral scale from playfully cheeky husband to jealous monster. He also, it should be noted, has nonconsensual sex with his wife after she passes out, which the film's score (by legendary composer Ennio Morricone!) depicts as oafish via oompah-oompah music as opposed to a reprehensible act.

Which brings me to a point I frequently reach in most viewings of erotic films: the prevalence of depictions of sexual assault. These films, no matter the level of "core", are about depicting fantasies for the audience, and noncon scenarios are plenty of people's jam. So basically, I don't have to like it, but I do have to accept its existence, and that acceptance doesn't stop me from thinking prof. Nino is a garbage human being. I was happy to watch as he slowly ruins his marriage and ultimately gets his just desserts.

The Packaging: Excellent

Cult Epics' physical releases, just in general, are very handsome and of good quality. The Key comes with a slipcover featuring Teresa lying in bed wearing black lingerie, with a mirror on the wall behind her reflecting an image from a different, more naked scene. The case inside is of the black 4K variety and has a double-sided cover.

One side features a vintage poster, with the Italian title La Chaive, of Teresa sitting on a dune wearing a mature blazer, shirt and skirt combination, but flashing her stocking garters. The reverse side is another image from the same sequence as the slipcover image, with Teresa this time sitting up in bed. There is also an included booklet with a wonderfully thorough essay about Tinto Brass and Stefania Sandrelli's careers, written by Eugenio Ercolani.

All in all this is the sort of release you could comfortably display on a shelf without worrying anyone would think The Key was pornography (if that's a concern of yours).

The Audio + Video: Excellent

This looks wonderful. The colors are lush throughout and the light balance is excellently handled. or example, there is a sequence where Nino takes nude photos of Teresa and then has Laszlo develop them as part of the whole psychosexual game, but I mention it because: when Nino is taking the photos, he pulls out a powerfully bright studio light and still, even in the dark bedroom, nothing is washed out OR swallowed by darkness. It's wonderfully well-managed. 

There is more visual noise in darker scenes, but not to a great or distracting degree. This phenomenon is a byproduct of balancing / restoring sequences initially shot in lower light, and typically presents as just a higher rate of film grain. I mention it here only to assure you that this is normal and to be expected.

I loved the look of The Key throughout, from the deep, jewel box colors of the clothing, the amber lighting on some scenes, and the inky black shadows. There's even a sequence with light streaming through the windows highlighted with some atmospheric smoke like a damn Steven Spielberg movie! When combined with the beauty of the locations and architecture, it's absolutely a gorgeous film.

I had slightly more of an issue with the audio, but truly only minor complaints. Firstly there is a scene in a barber's where the volume suddenly jumps exponentially, which is an unpleasant surprise, but only happens in that one brief scene. The more prevalent issue is that there are moments where the audio is slightly muffled, but never to a degree that you can't understand what's being said. It's almost bound to happen with a film with so much ADR. Automatic Dialogue Replacement is when something is recorded later, either to replace imperfect on-set recording, add lines of dialogue that were not initially recorded, or in this case to dub the various actors (many of whom were not native English speakers).

Special Features: Excellent

I would like to see this section grow in terms of your opinions. I do think it’s still important to list all of the special features that are available, but I would like you all to check them out and highlight one or two that really stood out to you. 

What I look for in a selection of bonus material is context. Unless I'm already familiar, I like to get an idea of the what and why of a movie's creation, and this release is a treasure trove of context. Aside from the booklet with the essay from Eugenio Ercolani mentioned above, there is a feature length commentary featuring Ercolani and Marcus Stiglegger, numerous interviews both new and archival, and trailers for other films from Tinto Brass.

Perhaps my favorite is the Score by Ennio Morricone bonus feature. Yes, legendary composed Morricone scores the film, which I barely mentioned above because I wanted to highlight that this bonus feature allows you to play the entire score over a still photo from the film! It played in the background as I was outlining this review, in fact!

The only bonus feature I didn't really enjoy is Outtakes Venice, which is just extra footage of the water which, while nice to look at and technically correct, is decidedly not what I think of when I see the word ' outtakes '.

• Feature commentary from Eugenio Ercolani & Marcus Stiglegger
• Tinto's Talisman - interview with actor Franco Branciaroli (38:55)
• Keyhole Venice (7:35)
• Sensuous Morricone (28:29)
• Score by Ennio Morricone (32:06)
• Archival Interview with Tinto Brass (16:52)
• Outtakes Venice (10:15)
• The Key poster gallery
• Tinto Brass poster gallery
• Tinto Brass trailers:
• The Key (1983) (3:08)
• Cheeky! (2000) (3:25)
• Frivolous Lola (1998) (2:18)
• All Ladies Do It (1992) (3:22)

In Summary: Buy It On Sale

I quite liked The Key overall. It's has more to it than its just erotic content, it's genuinely funny and strange at times (the dream / fantasy sequences!) and just has a lovely overall presentation. I know erotic films without much more to their plot--meaning not erotic thrillers or somesuch--aren't everybody's bag, but if you're in the market for something like that, and with the added morality tale ending tacked on, I can't recommend this release strongly enough.

There is, I should mention, in addition to the maybe distasteful assault stuff, an odd through-line of fascism to the film. Now, to be clear: neither the film itself nor any of the characters seem to support fascism. The film is set in 1939 and opens at a New Year's celebration held by the Italian Association of Fascist Hoteliers. It ends with a funeral shown underneath an address from Mussolini announcing Italy entering into WWII. In addition, Nino has a side hustle authenticating art forgeries to allow folks struggling under fascism to make some money. I just ...am not sure how this informs the film itself.

I suppose the societal repression and the personal repression is a parallel, but it seems like a relatively half-constructed one. Certainly, fascism represents a major epoch in Italy's history but beyond that I just feel like I'm missing something. This film is based on a novel, Kagi by Jun'ichirô Tanizaki, so perhaps it's some thematic holdover from that? I don't think its inclusion really dampened my enjoyment any, I just couldn't end this write-up without mention it.