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Silk
Our Price: $19.98 Prices subject to change.
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Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: DVD
Brand: Warner Brothers
EAN: 0794043113079
Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Item Dimensions: 25
Label: Picturehouse Entertainment
Languages: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 SurroundJapanese (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 SurroundLatin (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 SurroundEnglish (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled),
Manufacturer: Picturehouse Entertainment
MPN: 1000036755
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Picturehouse Entertainment
Region Code: 1
Release Date: February 26, 2008
Running Time: 109 minutes
Studio: Picturehouse Entertainment
Theatrical Release Date: 2007
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Editorial Review:
Based on the best-selling novel by Alessandro Baricco Silk is a visually stunning epic spanning two continents. Herv? Joncour's (Michael Pitt) devotion to his beautiful bride (Keira Knightley) is tested by increasingly dangerous trade missions in search of silkworms for his towns survival. From his journeys to Japan Herv? brings great wealth for his village but with each return to the Far East he becomes torn by the temptation of a local warlords sensuous concubine and his love for H?l?ne.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA/LOVE & ROMANCE UPC: 794043113079 Manufacturer No: 1000036755
Set in the 19th century, when Japan was closed to the West, Silk offers an unusual love story revolving around Herve (Michael Pitt), wife Helene (Keira Knightley) and the young unnamed beauty to whom he has never shared a conversation (played by Sei Ashina). With the small fortune he has made from smuggling silkworm eggs from Japan, Herve purchases a grand home in France with a nice parcel of land that is suitable for Helene's dream garden. But when the silkworms die, Herve is commissioned to return to Japan to buy more eggs so the townspeople can resume their lucrative silk-manufacturing business. There, Herve once again sees the Japanese baron's concubine who stares at him with longing but remains silent. While he is soaking in a bath, she hands him a note written in Japanese that he later learns reads, "Come back or I will die." Filled with good intentions, Silk doesn't carry enough dramatic weight to garner much viewer interest. That Pitt is American, Knightley is British, and neither attempts a French accent is forgivable. But there is little chemistry shared by any of the leads, who are undeniably gorgeous but in an impassionate and cold way. Pitt's mournful delivery and the clunky dialogue don't help matters much. Staring at their lush garden full of flowers in bloom, Helene says, "You said this is where we'd grow old. Are we old?" Near the end of the film, Herve receives another letter written in Japanese that talks at length about love, faith, and the need to go on. The sender of the letter may surprise some viewers, but the ending is more implausible than a revelation. Based on the novel of the same name by Alessandro Baricco, Silk essentially is little more than a movie of the week disguised as an arthouse film. --Jae-Ha Kim
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - 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 ... Read More
Rating:  - 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 ... Read More
Rating:  - 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 ... Read More
Rating:  - 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 ... Read More
Rating: - 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.
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