Silk | 
| Director: Francois Girard
Actors: Carlo Cecchi, Alfred Molina, Kenneth Welsh, Koji Yakusho, Callum Keith Rennie
Studio: New Line Home Video
Category: DVD
List Price: $19.98
Buy Used: $1.95
You Save: $18.03 (90%)
New (45) Used (53) from $1.95
Rating:  30 reviews
Sales Rank: 21721
Format: Ac-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dvd, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), Japanese (Original Language), Latin (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 109 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: TRNDN113079D
UPC: 794043113079
EAN: 0794043113079
ASIN: B00104J4IO
Theatrical Release Date: 2007
Release Date: February 26, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Studio: New Line Home Video Release Date: 09/30/2008 Rating: R
Amazon.com
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
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| Customer Reviews: Read 25 more reviews...
 Hate it or Love it July 4, 2009
Damian P. Gadal (Santa Barbara, CA USA)
Wow... I saw this last night not knowing a thing about it, and what can I say, I really liked it.
I've read the other reviews and can see that people feel strongly in either hating this picture, or loving it. I guess drawing out strong emotional responses like this is a good thing.
The film worked for me. It was visually stunning, and accompanied with an equally beautiful score that complimented the cinematography perfectly.
I found the story compelling. Love and desire, and how they weigh on the psyche, and the torment and anguish they can cause.
The actors provided the framework and the story was told in a more visual and musical sense. When put all together they seemed to click with me.
What drove the story home was the last letter and the twist behind it. That said a lot about the power of love, and appreciating what we have.
Sorry to all those who hated this, but I enjoyed this film and the story it tried to convey.
 I'd rather watch my toenails grow June 8, 2009
Mean Machine (NYC)
I have never been an admirer of Keira Knightly - She is always aware of the camera focusing on herself and cannot act naturally.
I have become amazed to find that others seem mesmerized by her so called beauty and somehow become hoodwinked into believing that she has some kind of talent.
Well, this movie should dispel all myths!
Ms Knightly here tries to portray an American, but can't even hold up the accent for long.
If I were the husband that she has in this movie I would scarper to the far east and shack up with an Asian beauty and never return to the pale faced wanna be actress!
The story, by the way, is possibly the worse that I have encountered within the last decade.
I would recommend that you avoid this movie at all costs - even though Keira bares her tiny breasts! If you must see this then fast forward to where the Asian lady bares hers - not only are they much better but she can act better also!
 wonderful February 21, 2009
BeagleLuvr (Seattle, WA)
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
 Two Big Thumbs Down February 11, 2009
S. Schell (Mason, OH United States)
"Silk" was a film that I'd been eyeballing for quite some time, lured by its romantic cover of Keira Knightley in period dress and embracing actor Michael Pitt, their noses touching and suggestive of an imminent kiss. I realized after watching it that I got the most enjoyment out of just looking at the DVD cover. "Silk" is an incredible bore that has the misfortune of two very good actors (Molina, Knightley) trying to propel limp material.
The story takes place in 19th century France - Herve Joncour (Pitt) is a former military officer who happily abandons his career for another: trading silkworm eggs. Due to a disease that begins affecting and killing off the local population, he is bid by his associate Baldabiou (Molina) to travel abroad for healthy eggs. He travels first to Africa, then to Japan, attempting to smuggle back eggs that will hatch healthy silkworms and produce massive amounts of silk, thereby bringing substantial profit.
His journeys to these strange countries are long and arduous and keep him away from his young beautiful wife Helene (Knightley), who desperately wants a child. While in Japan, Herve inexplicably becomes obsessed with a local man's concubine and when given a note from her, he finds a high-end Japanese prostitute back in France who translates it. The note reads: Come back or I shall die.
Despite a revolt in Japan, Herve insists on returning there due to his urge to find the concubine and encounters hostility beyond what he thought possible. The trip is a lost cause - there is no sign of the woman he sought and all of the eggs he procures hatch prematurely and are therefore worthless. Returning home once again, Helene finds him a changed man (not for the better) and he finds her a melancholy woman, one who unbeknownst to him is wise to the reason for his return to Japan.
The film ends on a sad note and with not much of a resolution - Herve never found what he was looking for and in his ignorant obsession, loses what's most important to him. In short, it was a waste of film on several accounts: story, screenplay and acting combined.
Fans of Keira Knightley won't get even half of what they expect from her in this film, the onscreen time largely belonging to Michael Pitt as Herve Joncour. Pitt is flat, dispassionate and utterly uninteresting - his voice rarely projects above the volume of a private conversation and is sorely lacking in inflection. With a monotone delivery to match his vacant face, the man may as well be an android and it makes me wonder whether this is the kind of performance that director Francois Girard (The Red Violin) wanted all along (that, or he did nothing to coax Pitt into giving more). If so, it deeply discourages me from reading the novel on which this film was based, as it's high unlikely I'll put up with a dry and lethargic character like Herve for very long before giving up on the story entirely.
Alfred Molina is the saving grace of the film's many performance issues, managing to take what little he has and still make a good impression. The rest of the cast are largely unknown and blend in with the background, a scene-stealer in its own right; the film's luscious cinematography comes courtesy of Alain Dostie with location shoots divided between Japan and Italy. There are plenty of resplendent and artsy shots of the wintry landscapes in the Japanese town of Sakata as well as a verdant and fairytale-like milieu for the Joncour estate in the medieval village of Sermoneta, Italy.
Sound on this particular DVD is horrid - I found myself cranking the volume WAY up and still had trouble hearing certain people (Pitt in particular, what with his maddening mumbling).
Bottom line: Fans of Alessandro Barrico's novella would do well to avoid this somnolent adaptation - it is a useless companion to the book and does nothing to elevate the Italian author's prose or illuminate the story. If you're in a deep dark pit of boredom, the ennui of "Silk" will keep you trapped there.
No scene anywhere in the film is less than gorgeous January 16, 2009
Jeannette Belliveau (Baltimore, MD United States)
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.
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