Silk
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Movie Reviews of Silk
Movie Review: wonderful
Summary: 5 Stars
im not a romantic movie lover, but this is good!
im a michael pitt fan, if you dont like this or dont "get it"
then, dont review
Movie Review: Stunning scenery for a XIX century story
Summary: 4 Stars
This film was actually good, and I expected the worst :)...
It's interesting to watch with somebody of the opposite sex that you don't know well. You could tell a few things about her afterwards, like: Does she like classical music? Does she feel anything when watching splendid landscapes? Is she intelligent enough to figure the story's twist near the end? (I wasn't even close) Does she like "slow" movies? Can she withstand a moderate dose of "drama"? Can she feel Helene's plight?
The musical score by Ryuichi Sakamoto was superb, but we shouldn't be surprised given director François Girard's last films.
The only character I really liked was Afred Molina's "Baldabiou".
He's an entrepreneur with flavour for life. Likeable, tough but sensitive. A "father figure" to "Herve", who sorely needs one with such a bore of a father!
Herve's attitude to life was a bit strange to me. My friend said something that's always been there: "he never smiles". True, he barely winces, never seems to be happy, just like drowsily fulfilling a desk job.
Schuyler was great in his small role. How a street smart adversary can become a restrained source of practical wisdom!
Madame Blanche is also a necessary small role, but that has the life experience Herve will always lack.
He surely got sympathy from smart strangers!
I didn't get involved in Ludovic Berbek's story, although it's there with the clear intention of moving us. I also thought all this story of "marital unhappiness", infertility and she crying as they made love was a bit contrived.
I will never like Keira, but at least she doesn't look like a "tomboy beanpole" (!) as she said on one interview. Which wouldn't be becoming for her "modest wife" role.
She's not as good as her Guinevere, but at least she does her rather plain role without showing off. She doesn't look anorexic like in other roles. Maybe she didn't endure wearing a corset like on "Pirates of the Caribbean".
The best review I read was "Grady Harp from United States". I think it deserves to be the one you read first.
Jae-Ha Kim from Amazon is a good critical take. But I'm glad I didn't read it before watching the film, as it speaks about a twist that should be left alone :)!
My favourite scene is when the local baron shows cold Herve the peaceful place he and his ancestors enjoy for watching nature and connecting with nature. And the one in the bathtub, very tender in a sexually restrained world.
I also wanted to "have a garden" after watching this, thou I content myself with some plants in the balcony :)!
And Japan shows itself like a harsh country, both geographically and with respect to the Japanese. An ancient land with rules hard to understand by any westerner.
I did like the fact that the Japanese dialogues weren't subtitled. Unlike "Memoirs of a Geisha" & even "the last Samurai" I think that made us feel a bit like it must have been. The sort of "Ostrananie" experience that the Russian formalist extolled as "Art".
Movie Review: Silk (2007)
Summary: 4 Stars
When I first heard about silk I was not that keen about seeing it but for my Birthday my grandmother had no idea I was not so keen and bought it as a gift. I am so glad that I did not return it! Silk is a visual masterpiece about a mayors son named Herve who falls in love with a beautiful young women named helene. Every thing seems like It's going to be picture perfect about that time a man named Baldabiou has ideas of opening the run-down silk mill the only problem is there is a disease killing all the silk eggs in france and without the eggs there can be no silk mill. Baldabiou approaches Herve and tells him about going to Africa to retrive the eggs Herve accepts. Helene does not want Herve to leave there are recently married but she does not want to be a burden. After succesfully retriving the eggs Herve must go on another journey to japan. Some of the eggs are dead and Baldabiou sees that as a very bad sign. Leaving his wife again he sets out on a tough journey and falls in love with the mistress of a powerful japanese baron. Herve ends up going again and becoming more obsessed with her and at one point after finding a note saying "come back or I shall die". while Helene is at home lonely and waiting for Herve ( How sad!)
Pros: Silk is very beautiful visualy! great cineamatography. Lovely Costumes. And a beautiful score that should have won an oscar. Another Great thing about the film was Keira Knightley as Helene. She was so beautiful in her costumes and her performance was very touching and very subtle yet heart breaking!
Cons: Michael Pitt is not as good Keira Knightley and pouts and tries to act cute. Other then
Rating: 8.5/10 Silk is a love story about a man who forget the love of his life was always been near and not far. It's beautiful to watch but Michael pitt almost makes it less than great But Keira Knightley makes up for that she was awesome!
Movie Review: A Story of Obsession
Summary: 4 Stars
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.
Movie Review: No scene anywhere in the film is less than gorgeous
Summary: 4 Stars
Critics of the film are well within their rights to find male lead Michael Pitt a curious and somewhat leaden choice. Still overall, I find the extraordinary beauty of the settings he moves in to be compelling; can't think of another film that uses old villages in Italy (standing in for France) and Japan to such extraordinary effect.
There really isn't a scene in "Silk" that isn't beautiful on its own and depicting an almost Utopian loveliness to the 1860s period in France and Japan.
Though the story is reminiscent of "Shogun" and all other outsiders-confront-Japan movies (see Tom Cruise's "The Last Samurai" etc. etc.), I did enjoy the plot twist involving his wife's insight and simple devotion ... to say more would spoil the film.
I've seen "Silk" and "The Painted Veil" one after the other recently, and might have to say I preferred "Silk" in terms of having a more complex and subtle message. Both offer many beautiful visions of East Asia and help us think about how Westerners fare in their travels there.