Silk (2007)

Visually Magnificent...but Dull Script Detracts From That

Well, I just finished watching Silk, and all I can think about is the hour and a half of my life I'll never get back...The scenery in this movie is a feast for the eyes, and the only pro as the dull and lifeless script made me fast-forward through most of the movie. I found the characters to be very underdeveloped, as well as the plot; specifically I had issue when Michael Pitt's character Herve develops an fixation with a Japanese concubine, which is a major reason why he makes repeated trips back to Japan (the backbone of the movie), seems very unfounded; the two have very little screen time and no dialogue, yet an "obsession" blooms. If you love historical fiction as I do, I recommend something more satisfying... like the English Patient, Zelery, Pride & Prejudice October 4, 2008

Implications of Desire

This is a cinematic masterpiece -- the music, the scenery, the absolutely perfectly choreographed interactions of the characters (themselves beautiful and unpretentious in their portrayals)...the subtext is rich and multi-layered -- we are given an opportunity to see how desire, in its many forms, affects individuals and others around them -- how it informs and how it inspires and at times, controls us obsessively, even blinding us from the realities that are before us -- for many reasons. If you're patient, attentive, and open to the nuances that abound, this is a rewarding, rich film that is at times brutally candid and at others, dreamily opulent with wonder. One of my new favorites...I was captivated until the last note of the soundtrack was played. August 29, 2008

A Story of Obsession

I read the novel `Silk' by Alessandro Baricco and loved it. Therefore, I was rather wary of seeing the adaptation. But when I saw the film, I was not disappointed; the visual imagery is beautiful and the Japanese symbolism was well-related.

The location of the story is France in 1862. Herve (Michael Pitt) is convinced by Baldabiou (Alfred Molina) to travel in search of silkworm eggs in order to save the silk-making business. Herve travels to Africa and Japan. During his trip to Japan, he falls in love with a Japanese concubine. When he returns home to France, he cannot forget the Japanese beauty and continues to obsessively long for her.

The untranslated Japanese conversations allows the audience to relate to the main character, as he too does not understand the language. Keira Knightly made a wonderful `Hélène' but I wasn't convinced by Michael Pitt as the main character `Hervé Joncour'; the obsessive inner turmoil wasn't portrayed well on screen. Overall, however, I think the film is well-worth seeing.
July 10, 2008

A lifeless, listless, loveless love story

Like many well-intentioned adaptations, "Silk" fails in its horrible execution. We supposedly have an adventurous silk trader, Herve Joncour (Michael Pitt), who undertakes the perilous journey from France to Japan in the mid-1800s in search of blight-free silkworm eggs that would ensure his village's prosperity in the silk industry. Married to a fetching wife and, from all accounts, in love with her, our intrepid traveler becomes obsessed with a Japanese concubine in his first trek to Yamagata. On the pretext that Japan's silkworm eggs are worth the frequent traveler miles, Herve returns to Japan to obtain yet another glimpse of his amour. We are obliged to accept that the largely lethargic Pitt traverses these thousands of miles (3 times!) by carriage, rail, ship, caravan and horseback, when it looks like he can't even get across town without being toppled by a strong breeze. Straining to evoke a Dr. Zhivago-like epic, it only succeeds at looking ludicrous. Permanently sporting a pout like a child scolded for playing with worms, Pitt mumbles in a monotone with one wooden facial expression all throughout, in perfect accompaniment to his sleep-deprived droning voiceover narration for the film's painful 110 minutes. As badly miscast and as anemic as Pitt's acting is, it is equaled, agonizingly enough, by the same lifeless performance of Keira Knightley as Herve's wife Helene. Mostly relegated to bidding Herve a spiritless goodbye whenever he departs and a spiritless hello whenever he returns, one wonders if the absence of affect and chemistry with the two was a joke on the audience that they secretly delighted in.

It may have been possible to forgive such lackluster acting if there was a story to behold. When the procurement of silkworm eggs is more riveting than Herve's infatuation with the unnamed concubine, then I know there's no redemption. I am as perplexed as those who've seen director Francois Girard's "Red Violin" in the `90s, a magnificent film that remains one of my favorites to this day. A feudal Japan of the 1800s, still closed to the west, with its warring warlords and bewildering culture would have been ripe for exposition, injecting the much-needed tensions and conflicts the film sorely lacks. To not have attempted to incorporate it in any meaningful way with the lame love story was a fatal mistake. At least, it could have given the dying plot a fighting chance. This is nothing more than another dull and dreary depiction of the white man's fantasy of the submissive, exotic female, a stereotype that really is getting old.

I'm no stranger to arthouse, but honestly, it's films like this that give arthouse a bad reputation. The fantastic cinematography in "Silk," with breathtaking panoramic shots of Japan in winter, cannot rescue this inferior film. I've seen nature documentaries on PBS with more gist and drama than this turgid exercise. Come to think of it, I've seen turtles with more passion. June 19, 2008

Not much of a movie but Nude Scenes Are Worth a View

Kiera has three nude scenes though the first is darkly lit, the other two of her in bed with husband are decent though short. The lead Japanese actress has a topless scene and another actress as the geisha/concubine has a FFN and long love making scene ... and both Japanese actresses are cute as a button so worth a look for fans of nudity in film. The Japan scenes are gorgeous and are interesting visually. The movie - still life - though the nudity of the actresses is nice. June 15, 2008

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