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Movies / On DVD / Silk
Silk

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Silk (2007)

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Reviews Counted:55

Fresh:4

Rotten:51

Average Rating:3.8/10

Consensus: Silk contains a simple love triangle story but director Francois Gerard goes to painstaking lengths to turn it into a protracted and wearisome art film.

Rated: 15 [See Full Rating] for sexuality and nudity.

Runtime: 1 hr 56 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:09-11-2007

Synopsis: With SILK, director François Gerard (THIRTY TWO SHORT FILMS ABOUT GLENN GOULD, THE RED VIOLIN) brings Alessandro Baricco's bestselling novel to sumptuous life. Michael Pitt stars as Herve Joncour,... With SILK, director François Gerard (THIRTY TWO SHORT FILMS ABOUT GLENN GOULD, THE RED VIOLIN) brings Alessandro Baricco's bestselling novel to sumptuous life. Michael Pitt stars as Herve Joncour, a Frenchman who lives in a small town that has hit hard times. A local silkworm magnate (Alfred Molina) stumbles upon a solution for his town's troubles, and enlists Herve to travel to a hidden corner of Japan in order to smuggle back a boundless supply of rare silkworms. Traveling in disguise so that he won't be exposed, Herve succeeds in his mission. Upon returning home, he reunites with his beautiful, supportive wife, Helene (Keira Knightley). While Herve and Helene have a loving relationship, their inability to produce a child creates an undercurrent of distance between them. This is compounded when Herve meets a beautiful concubine (Sei Ashina) during one of his subsequent journeys, sparking a passionate encounter that will haunt him for the rest of his life. Gerard's adaptation of Baricco's novel spans several continents and many years. The production is aided by the lush imagery of cinematographer Alain Dostie and the haunting score from acclaimed composer Ryuichi Sakamoto (THE LAST EMPEROR). Featuring yet another standout performance from Molina, SILK tells an epic tale of love and loss in the 19th century. [More]

Starring: Michael Pitt, Keira Knightley, Koji Yakusho, Alfred Molina

Starring: Michael Pitt, Keira Knightley, Koji Yakusho, Alfred Molina, Sei Ashina

Director: Francois Gerard

Director: Francois Gerard
Screenwriter: Francois Girard, Michael Golding
Producer: Niv Fichman, Nadine Luque, Domenico Procacci, Sonoko Sakai
Composer: Ryuichi Sakamoto
Studio: Picturehouse

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Reviews for Silk

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1 - 20 (sorted by comments; UK critics are listed first)
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Full Review Source: Screen International | comment Comment
09/29/07
Screen International

THE new Keira Knightley film is a visual delight. Unfortunately, the dialogue is far from delightful.

Full Review Source: Sun Online | comment Comment
11/09/07
Sun Online

A flat story, lean characters and a miscast lead make this a poor facsimile of period epics like Farewell My Concubine.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
11/23/07
Anna Smith
Anna Smith
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Tremulous eroticism a-go-go, but it's all completely lifeless.

Full Review Source: Independent | comment Comment
11/09/07
Anthony Quinn
Anthony Quinn
Independent

A problematic period movie, Silk is anything but finely spun. Unaided by lacklusture performances from the leads, director Francois Girard seems more interested in crafting a beautiful travelogue than he does a moving melodrama.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
11/09/07
James Mottram
James Mottram
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Sluggish storytelling enlivens neither Pitt’s infatuation with a local concubine nor the stubbornly feudal society it’s set against. Worst of all, though, you just never give a toss.

Full Review Source: Total Film | comment Comment
11/09/07
Matt Mueller
Matt Mueller
Total Film

Gorgeous to look at but ultimately disappointing, Silk is let down by stilted direction, an extremely dull script and a badly miscast Michael Pitt.

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
11/08/07
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon

Francois Girard's film proves a cross-cultural yawn, as if taking its cue from Pitt's blank-faced blandness and Keira Knightley's anaemic support.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
11/09/07
Neil Smith
Neil Smith
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Dralon is more like it.

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
11/09/07
Peter Bradshaw
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Crashing bore of a movie.

Full Review Source: Times [UK] | comment Comment
11/09/07
Wendy Ide
Wendy Ide
Times [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The stilted dialogue makes all of the actors sound as if they're being dubbed into English, badly, especially the English-speaking ones (Alfred Molina, looking seriously bored).

Full Review Source: Newsday | comment 2 Comments
09/13/07
Jan Stuart
Jan Stuart
Newsday

a singularly uninvolving bit of piffle crafted as though those who made it were afraid of waking someone

Full Review Source: Killer Movie Reviews | comment Comment
09/12/07
Andrea Chase
Andrea Chase
Killer Movie Reviews

The movie looks gorgeous ... but the story never really builds momentum; you keep waiting for the 'real' action to start, but it never does.

Full Review Source: Hollywood.com | comment Comment
09/14/07
Betsy Bozdech
Betsy Bozdech
Hollywood.com

The movie is at its best as a collage of environments representing states of mind.

Full Review Source: culturevulture.net | comment Comment
10/17/07
Beverly Berning
Beverly Berning
culturevulture.net

Failing to make a lick of rational sense, Silk grasps at poetic straws.

Full Review Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer | comment Comment
09/14/07
Bill White
Bill White
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

It is worse than a straightforward bad film, it is a middling, stagnant film that could have been extraordinary.

Full Review Source: Christianity Today | comment Comment
02/28/08
Brandon Fibbs
Brandon Fibbs
Christianity Today

It is interesting and not riveting, lovely and not luxurious, good and not great. Some may even find it boring. It certainly is repetitive.

Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
09/28/07
Bruce Kirkland
Bruce Kirkland
Jam! Movies

Although the period-piece film has all the trappings, from beautiful people to an obligatory sense of tragedy, it never follows through. In fact, its love story needs a shove -- it just lies there.

Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle | comment Comment
09/14/07
Bruce Westbrook
Bruce Westbrook
Houston Chronicle

Here's a little game you can play if you get bored during Silk, and you will get bored during Silk: How many actors do you suppose were offered the lead role before the producers settled on Michael Pitt?

Full Review Source: St. Paul Pioneer Press | comment Comment
09/13/07
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
St. Paul Pioneer Press

A film that manages to remove just about everything that makes soap operas entertaining.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
09/14/07
Daniel Eagan
Daniel Eagan
Film Journal International
 
 
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Latest News for Silk

September 11, 2007: Silk preview & trailer Opens in new window
More...

August 23, 2007: It's hard to imagine Brit beauty Knightley playing the long-suffering wife of an adulterous spouse who'd look at another woman - even if he's got a thing for a seductive geisha in faraway Japan, who happens to be the personal property of a powerful baron. Opens in new window
More...

August 22, 2007: Trailer & Poster review Opens in new window
More...

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