Key House Mirror

October. 22,2015      
Rating:
6.8
Trailer Synopsis Cast

Lily (76) is sure there’s nothing wrong with her. The only reason she lives in a care home is because of her husband Max's illness: a series of strokes has reduced him to a vegetable. The fact that Lily isn’t exactly the way she used to be becomes slowly clear in the Danish drama Key House Mirror - the title refers to a memory test. It’s not easy for Lily to leave her old habits behind her and fit in with the rules of the home. Her life blossoms when she meets an 80-year-old Swedish neighbour, a charming man who gives her the attention she has long missed. Lily’s daughter, however, is not so happy with the budding romance.

Ghita Nørby as  Lily
Sven Wollter as  Erik
Trine Pallesen as  Katrine

Reviews

Orla Zuniga
2015/10/22

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

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Arianna Moses
2015/10/23

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

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Lidia Draper
2015/10/24

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

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Staci Frederick
2015/10/25

Blistering performances.

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robertlilja-83388
2015/10/26

Sweet movie about getting old. Ghita Nørby is as usually a fantastic actress! 80 years old in this picture!

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gsandra614
2015/10/27

There is no sentimental "walking off into the sunset" when it comes to the stark reality of losing your memory and your identity as a result of dementia. Who wants to live their "golden years" with doubts about one's grasp on reality? This movie is a jolting depiction of what could be in store for anyone over 70. The movie is a little bit idealistic about the romance between two nursing-home residents. With the ratio of about 10 women to every man, the competition is fierce for companionship. Still, I give this film high marks for the acting and the realistic look at age-related atrophy of the brain and its effects on the principals and their families. Old age takes courage, fortitude, and a sense of humor in the best of cases. There just isn't a pill for everything.

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losindiscretoscine
2015/10/28

At only 38 years old and with only two full-length movies, Michael Noer gives a try to a complicated theme with an impressive maturity. Under the eye of the Danish director, the old age and the illness seem to look like a new woman. We rediscover the foolishness and the pleasures inherent to teenage years thanks to a very convincing duet of actors. The movie goes further comparing two ethic : a traditional one (the one of Lily's daughter) and Lily's who does not care about traditions and relies more on happiness instead of moral codes. Noer gives also a very optimistic view on illness and gets rid of this perpetual cliché of the retirement house, a place where old people are supposedly not happy. In the end, Key House Mirror, despite its classic structure, offers an outcome, a story and characters that definitely buck the trend of the stereotypical image we can have from such an environment and slice of life. With Key House Mirror, Michael Noer rises above the themes of its two previous movies and offers an emotional roller-coaster : a bit funny, a bit sad but always moving. Full review on our blog Los Indiscretos : https://losindiscretos.org

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Alex Deleon
2015/10/29

The slightly mystifying title refers to the Random Words memory test the central figure has to undergo in Danish.Subject: MARRAKESH FILM REVIEWS Ghita Norby Rocks at Eighty in KEY HOUSE MIRROR By Alex Deleon (Filmfestivals.com)Danish film entitled, KEY HOUSE MIRROR (Nøgle Hus Spejl) viewed at Colisée cinema, Gueliz, Marrakesh, Friday night, December 11. Director Michael Noe: starring Ghita Norby and Sven Wollter.This is an amazing small budget Danish film the sly subject of which is a love affair in an old age home starring great Danish actress Ghita Norby as a women whose husband has become a living vegetable in love with another senior who still has some lead in his pencil.Lily, pushing eighty, takes up residence in the old age home to be with her totally incapacitated husband. However, in the home she meets a retired Swedish airlines pilot, who has shaky hands from Parkinsons disease but a sunny outgoing personality and a jaunty outlook on life. Lily falls in love with big beefy Max (Sven Wolkter) and literally seduces him. She has had no sex for years with her paralyzed husband and is sex starved as well as generally starved for intimate connectivity.We see some remarkable Senior Citizen love making (in bedroom shadow but they are actually nude and copulating!) -- Which leads to family complications when, at the traditional Xmas family reunion, Lily reveals to her daughter (also the devoted daughter of paralyzed aged Eric, propped up on a seat but totally out of if like a zombie) -- that she has fallen in love with a man she has met at the home --and from there this tale suddenly takes off -- with a subtle slam bang. Starting out like an innocent visit to an old age home in Copenhagen but ending up as a tangled elderly love affair and heavyweight family drama when Lily is herself diagnosed as being in the early stages of Dementia and starts becoming forgetful ... however she has planned a dream-of-a-lifetime trip to Paris with beefy shaky lover Max -- buys the tickets and is determined to go through with this late in life honeymoon, no matter what -- On the sound track a extremely decelerated version of Dean Martin's "I Love Paris" is heard over and over again ... "In the morning, in the evening ---because my love is near ..." -- as if the recording itself is suffering from old age! Danish top star actress Ghita Norby (born 1935!). Is utterly amaaaaazing in this picture -- surprisingly the best movie Of the entire week I saw here at the Marrakesh film festival -- and one of the most breathtaking female performances I have ever seen anywhere! Not to be missed if you can find it. Required viewing for people over Eighty and strongly suggested viewing for those under eighty who aspire to reach this venerable age -- not to mention film buffs of all ages who appreciate and relish sensitive savvy ingeniously realistic acting -- So real in fact, that Norby turns this seemingly simple low key tale into a breathtaking thriller -- which I don't think many actresses her age would be capable of doing. An acting Master Class and a thrill to watch.

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