Silk (2007)

Visually stunning, this is a dark and sleepy romance of a movie. Beautifully presented,with a wonderful music score to match. Set in another century,the film relates the tale of a man who on his business trips trekking the world from Europe to the Far East,Japan, ultimately and retrospectively discovers what is love. This is a quiet and intense emotional picture.It falls short of being a classic in my view only because of the miscasting of the lead male and female who are not sufficiently charismatic or convincing in their roles. But everything else is near perfect.And I still rate this film highly:7/10

Recap: A young man, Hervé, leaves the army to join the silk producing business in his home town, in 19th century France. He falls in love with a girl, Hélène, and they get married. But there is a problem with the silk worms, there is a disease spreading and they're dying. Hervé goes on a long journey to Japan to acquire some new ones. But there he meets a girl, a concubine to the baron he is dealing with, a girl he can never forget. Drawn to her he goes on more trips to Japan, but Hélène is never far from his thoughts. Can one love two women? Can Hervé find peace and happiness anywhere or is he doomed to forever long for someone else.Comments: This is a very beautiful movie. Beautiful and sensual. The main story is not the plot but the emotions Hervé is drawn between. The story is just a good excuse, and motivation, to set Hervé in the right place emotionally.Hervé goes on a lot of journeys. Journeys can often slow the pace down in a movie, but since the story is not the main attraction, that is not such a big problem. What they are though is stunningly beautiful, as Hervé passes some spectacular scenery along the way.The visual beauty, and the emotional, almost sensual feel in the movie is very well handled. And you need to appreciate such movies or themes to appreciate this movie, there is not much else. In fact the movie is a little slow, edging on a little dull sometimes. My tip is that you got something else to do while you're watching, that way you can appreciate the good points without becoming bored.The acting is very good, though that is not very surprising considering the cast includes Michael Pitt, Keira Knightley, Koja Yakusho and Alfred Molina. Sei Ashina, who plays the girl, is more of a newcomer but shows promise. That the acting is well balanced is important when the movie depends so heavily on the emotions of the characters, and it is quite successful at it. That means that Francois Girard directing is nothing short of impressive.However, this is not extremely entertaining, more like a piece of art. If you enjoy such movies, this is recommended.6/10

Good: Scenes with scenery of Japan were breathtaking, very well shot. Lighting was good throughout the movie. Dark scenes were perfect, details were still viewable. Bad: Keira Knightley needs to eat something. Story was quite slow and left a lot out. Why was the man interested in the Japanese girl (other than the fact she was hot.) Why would the girl be interested in the man? They don't even speak the same language and they almost never even made eye contact. At least hint at something rather than giving us a complete void.Ugly: Michael Pitt was bland, lifeless. the guy who played Annakin Skywalker was horrible but at least he had a pulse. Pitt played his character like a zombie. Why? Is a man desperately in lust with an apparition from a foreign country going to walk around like a man in a coma? Ridiculous.Score: 5/10. (4 points for the scenery. Half a point to Keira for trying. Half a point for the twist at the end.)

What a sad flop, with the best of intentions. The message to the viewer is overly clear, it shouts: this is an artistic, slow and sensuous movie, contrasting Oriental philosophy with Western greed for speed and immediate effects. Well, yes, we get this rather soon, and then we suffer through the rest… Perhaps slow movies are not exact equivalents of slow food, after all. There are some redemptive traits, though. The film could be see as an illustration of Joyce Carol Oates's observation that "prolonged happiness is a prison from which the self yearns to escape at any cost". People cannot stand a prolonged happiness, and the protagonist says so much himself. Another (attempt at) redemption: perhaps the movie is about the temptations of Orientalism typical for the era portrayed: the Western men, bored to tears, looking for any kind of adventure that the exotic Orient could offer them. Because if it is a love story, it is Hélène's love story, but if so, it is underdeveloped. The other "love story" is too ridiculous even to consider.Finally: it is true that seeing it in with a full screen can help; I have watched it as DVD, and although it was a very good screen, it could not reproduce the immersion effect possible on a large screen only.