Critic Reviews
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Susan Walker, Toronto Star
François Girard's Silk is not merely painterly. It might as well be a painting, for all that it eschews storytelling, forcing the viewer to scan the lush imagery in search of clues to what, if anything, might be going on.
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Stephen Cole, Globe and Mail
Though elegantly staged, Silk is badly written and indifferently cast.
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Julia Wallace, Village Voice
Silk isn't just bad. It's utterly mad.
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James Berardinelli, ReelViews
It's a perfect example of how awful direction and performances can ruin an adequate screenplay.
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Jack Mathews, New York Daily News
Limp satire.
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Stephen Holden, New York Times
[Director] Girard confuses pretty scenery doused in ponderous music with epic visual poetry. Impenetrable musings intended to evoke ineffable romantic longing leave you scratching your head as you wait, ever more impatiently, for something to happen.
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Brandon Fibbs, Christianity Today
It is worse than a straightforward bad film, it is a middling, stagnant film that could have been extraordinary.
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Joseph Proimakis, Movies for the Masses
i sta narkotika tha se riksei, i stin katatonia, an kaneis to lathos na tin pareis sta sobara os otidipote allo para eykairia eksaskisis ton kanibalistikon soy enstikton
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Anna Smith, Empire Magazine
A flat story, lean characters and a miscast lead make this a poor facsimile of period epics like Farewell My Concubine.
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Anthony Quinn, Independent
Tremulous eroticism a-go-go, but it's all completely lifeless.
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Peter Bradshaw, Guardian [UK]
Dralon is more like it.
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, Sun Online
THE new Keira Knightley film is a visual delight. Unfortunately, the dialogue is far from delightful.
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Wendy Ide, Times [UK]
Crashing bore of a movie.
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James Mottram, Film4
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.
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Neil Smith, BBC
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.
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Matt Mueller, Total Film
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.
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Matthew Turner, ViewLondon
Gorgeous to look at but ultimately disappointing, Silk is let down by stilted direction, an extremely dull script and a badly miscast Michael Pitt.
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S. Jhoanna Robledo, Common Sense Media
Dull period drama goes for sensuality over story.
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Beverly Berning, culturevulture.net
The movie is at its best as a collage of environments representing states of mind.
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Bruce Kirkland, Jam! Movies
It is interesting and not riveting, lovely and not luxurious, good and not great. Some may even find it boring. It certainly is repetitive.
Read all 23 critic reviews
Featured Audience Ratings
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I've no idea what compelled me to watch this film, either before watching or during and whilst I wouldn't be able to explain the slow plotted story to anyone else, I have to admit that there is something about Michael Pitt that is addictive to watch and perhaps that is what… More
I've no idea what compelled me to watch this film, either before watching or during and whilst I wouldn't be able to explain the slow plotted story to anyone else, I have to admit that there is something about Michael Pitt that is addictive to watch and perhaps that is what made me stay with this film and strangely I found it quite enjoyable.
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Wonderful period drama-romance story (there goes Kiera Knightley's other period movies since <i>Atonement</i> and <i>Pride & Prejudice</i>).
The journeys are probably the best bits in the movie, with lush landscapes filling the screen in all serenity… More
Wonderful period drama-romance story (there goes Kiera Knightley's other period movies since <i>Atonement</i> and <i>Pride & Prejudice</i>).
The journeys are probably the best bits in the movie, with lush landscapes filling the screen in all serenity of the turmoils that are yet to come. I thought director Francois Girard tried to ape Terence Mallick's direction, with lush natural beauty punctuated with voice over narration of the character's inner-most thoughts. We learn a lot of what's going on in Herve's (played by Michael Pitt) mind, as he tells us the story of his being, and the conflict he faces when he gets tempted to committing adultery, never forgetting about his tryst overseas when back home he has a lovely wife (played by Knightley) to go home to.
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Somewhat of a simple love story, but I still thought the acting and and story itself was well done. Michael Pitt's character is married to Keira Knightley who he loves dearly, but while on a long trip to Japan he's drawn to a concubine. Although the time they spent together… More
Somewhat of a simple love story, but I still thought the acting and and story itself was well done. Michael Pitt's character is married to Keira Knightley who he loves dearly, but while on a long trip to Japan he's drawn to a concubine. Although the time they spent together were limited, there was something about their quiet relationship that somehow touched me. I also felt the same way about his relationship with his wife...the scenery was beautiful throughout.
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Silk, is a very good drama starring Keira Knightley. This story takes place in the 19th century France. A young couple falls in love and the young man (Michael Pitt) is to smuggle silk worms back for his new prosperous factory where he is woven into love and other assorted drama.
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Silk suffers from the dull factor and there is nothing I hate more than having to sit through a very dull film.
The beautiful scenery and stunning cinematography is one of very few things I liked about this film. Michael Pitt is a promising actor, I've liked some of his previous… More
Silk suffers from the dull factor and there is nothing I hate more than having to sit through a very dull film.
The beautiful scenery and stunning cinematography is one of very few things I liked about this film. Michael Pitt is a promising actor, I've liked some of his previous work but in this he is incredibly monotonous and emotionless. Keira Knightley could have made more of an impression had the role demanded more of her, and Alfred Molina, a very good actor is a much needed addition to the cast. The scenes journeying between France and Japan, are silent, dreary and too long.
If you actually cared about the characters then maybe this would have been moving, but in my opinion it was a poor attempt at an epic love story. Avoid and watch Atonement instead.
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I didn't actually know if I liked this one all that much until it got to the end, but it did turn out to be worth watching and very moving. It is not a very fast moving movie, and quite hard to watch at times. Also, more insight into the main characters would have been good as it… More
I didn't actually know if I liked this one all that much until it got to the end, but it did turn out to be worth watching and very moving. It is not a very fast moving movie, and quite hard to watch at times. Also, more insight into the main characters would have been good as it is a bit hard at times to figure out what is motivating them. I'm not sure on the casting either, although I think Michael Pitt is a great actor, he was a bit understated at times, particularly in the earlier half of this movie, although I could totally believe the character by the end of, so perhaps that was intentional. Keira Knightly just plain looked out of place, she's not a horrible actress, but the whole character just fell flat and didn't have much to do. Again, the ending turned it all around and gave her a bit more substance. Without giving the story away, the message to it is to appreciate what you have.
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Micheal Pitt is Hervé, a 19th century silkworm trader. Keira Knightley is Hélène, his wife. Hervé travels across the world to find his silkworms, and becomes obsessed with a Japanese girl. It is hard to imagine the character Hervé as a successful businessman, but easier to imagine… More
Micheal Pitt is Hervé, a 19th century silkworm trader. Keira Knightley is Hélène, his wife. Hervé travels across the world to find his silkworms, and becomes obsessed with a Japanese girl. It is hard to imagine the character Hervé as a successful businessman, but easier to imagine him as someone obsessed with a Japanese concubine he has only pined over from afar.
The movie has some great music and scenery and the ending hits you out of nowhere, but the movie does drag somewhat.
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I got through about 15 minutes of this abortion before I killed myself.
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Silk is a melodramatic period film that lacks passion and intrigue. The story follows a French silk merchant who travels to Japan and becomes enchanting by a mysterious woman, then proceeds to return year after year in the hopes of seeing her again. The film stars Michael Pitt,… More
Silk is a melodramatic period film that lacks passion and intrigue. The story follows a French silk merchant who travels to Japan and becomes enchanting by a mysterious woman, then proceeds to return year after year in the hopes of seeing her again. The film stars Michael Pitt, Keira Knightley, and Alfred Molina, none of whom give particularly good performances. In fact, Pitt's performance is especial dull and bereft of emotion; which is a significant problem given that his character is the central focus of the film. And the pacing of the film is terrible, killing off any interest the story has. Silk is a bland, lifeless film that goes on forever and gets nowhere.
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[font=Century Gothic]In "Silk," Baldabiou's(Alfred Molina) scheme of starting a silk mill in France in 1862 is more successful than his wildest dreams, so three more mills are built and the town prospers. But a disease strikes and the silkworm eggs die. So, he… More
[font=Century Gothic]In "Silk," Baldabiou's(Alfred Molina) scheme of starting a silk mill in France in 1862 is more successful than his wildest dreams, so three more mills are built and the town prospers. But a disease strikes and the silkworm eggs die. So, he commissions Herve Joncour(Michael Pitt), a young officer to travel to Egypt to buy new eggs, in the process allowing him to leave the army, get out from under the thumb of his father(Kenneth Welsh) and marry his sweetheart Helene(Keira Knightley). But even the eggs in Egypt are no good and Herve is now engaged to go on an even longer and more perilous journey to Japan...[/font]
[font=Century Gothic][/font]
[font=Century Gothic]"Silk" is a dull and lifeless movie that somehow takes all the emotion out of a potentially fascinating adventure story which is strange considering how many lives and livelihoods are on the line. Instead of an interesting bit of history that could have explored thoughts on culture clashes and imperialism, only a silly romance is on display.(At this point for me, it feels odd looking at Japan from a purely European viewpoint.) And Michael Pitt being cast in the lead does not help. What would have been interesting is if the movie did a decent job of capturing time passing in Herve's absence, especially considering the Franco-Prussian War and its resultant upheaval was in 1870-1871.[/font]
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[font=Century Gothic]But at least the movie is pretty to look at.[/font]
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Didn't understand t much. But it was okay. I still think Kiera Knightley can do better movies.
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I don't consider this to be the cataclysmic failure that critics have labelled it to be. It's an extremely flawed, directorially weak period romance with strengths as well as weaknesses. Although the film often feels forced, pretentious and silly, it boasts a beautiful music… More
I don't consider this to be the cataclysmic failure that critics have labelled it to be. It's an extremely flawed, directorially weak period romance with strengths as well as weaknesses. Although the film often feels forced, pretentious and silly, it boasts a beautiful music score and some very striking photography. Michael Pitt's performance in the lead role is extremely underrated - he's subtle, compelling and convincing. This is a failure, but I found that Pitt's acting and some other strong aspects prevented it from being a complete flop.
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Nothing was wrong with it, I just got crazy bored.
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A fantastic movie! Very touching and enduring. Intriguing story plot. Michael Pitt, Keira Knightley, and Alfred Molina star in this movie. Here's a tale of one precious commodity that helped open trade for Japan, silkworm. This is the story of one man's quest to obtain it.… More
A fantastic movie! Very touching and enduring. Intriguing story plot. Michael Pitt, Keira Knightley, and Alfred Molina star in this movie. Here's a tale of one precious commodity that helped open trade for Japan, silkworm. This is the story of one man's quest to obtain it. Great transition in musical composition. Definitely a tearjerker! *sigh* A must-see (if you dig romance movies).
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Poetry on film, literally.
The scenes are gorgeous and extremely DETAILED. As a result, may I add that virtually NOTHING goes on in this film except a few voyages back and forth between France and Japan?
Of course, the romance behind this film is appealing, yet there is a certain… More
Poetry on film, literally.
The scenes are gorgeous and extremely DETAILED. As a result, may I add that virtually NOTHING goes on in this film except a few voyages back and forth between France and Japan?
Of course, the romance behind this film is appealing, yet there is a certain lack of thrill - generally, something to move the audience or even provoke them; not just offering detailed visuals that make them open their eyes in awe.
The ending is superb, and probably the best part of the film (I'm sorry but, silkworms get tiring!).
I warn you though that you will most likely have mixed feelings about this once you have seen it. And I understand you.
Average! See Memoirs of a Geisha instead.
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I wonder who was really silly enough to give that much money to Girard in order to film this worthless piece of an epic love story?
Why don't they consider paying more a couple of screenwriters in order to come up with something worthy?
This is too average by any standards.… More
I wonder who was really silly enough to give that much money to Girard in order to film this worthless piece of an epic love story?
Why don't they consider paying more a couple of screenwriters in order to come up with something worthy?
This is too average by any standards. And mind you, I am a sucker for anything with Michael Pitt since "Hedwig" and "the Dreamers"
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Very slow but interesting story and a good pretty cast. Not very exciting at all though and average entertainment. Visually was nice though.
Read all 17 featured audience ratings
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