Retrato de amor

Can we really watch a movie lasting almost two hours just for its stunning cinematography and some glimpse of storytelling, or should it rather be the other way around? I think "Silk" proves that it is often impossible to adequately translate a deep, emotionally charged book into a credible and enjoyable movie. Personally, I just got terribly bored less than halfway through the movie. Yes, it is visually compelling. And yes, there are some fine moments in the acting, especially from Alfred Molina. But as a whole this leaves with quite a disappointing feeling in the viewer, the feeling that with all that money and resources and brilliant actors perhaps they could have come up with something a bit different. And a little less slow.

In 1862, the son of the mayor of a French village, Hervé Joncour (Michael Pitt), is invited by the silk entrepreneur Baldabiou (Alfred Molina) to travel to Africa to bring healthy silkworm eggs for his factory. Hervé first marries his beloved bride Hélène Joncour (Keira Knightley) and then he travels in the long journey. He succeeds, makes fortune and is invited to travel again to trade silkworm eggs in a longer journey to Japan. He is received by the local baron in a secret spot and falls in love for his Chinese concubine. Hervé returns to Hélène, but remains obsessed in the concubine. When he has a chance, he returns to Japan to trade the eggs and stay with his unattainable love.

"Silk" is an emotionless romance with wonderful cinematography and locations and completely miscast. The expressionless baby face Michael Pitt is an insipid and weak actor and could never have the lead role. I am a great fan of Keira Knightley, but the make-up work is very poor and she does not look aged or ill in the end of the story. The situation exposed in the movie is quite ridiculous: Hervé is just-married and in deep love for Hélène; when he travels to Japan, a concubine only glances at him and touches him in the bath, and that is enough for him to become obsessed by the woman. I can not believe that a successful novel could be so shallow. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Paixão Proibida" ("Forbidden Passion")

This is a beautiful film.

The story stays very close to the book I had already read twice (around 10 years ago then 6 months ago). The adaptation is faithful to the author, and even if there's not much words, the intensity of the feelings is always present. The actors convey these feelings very well, with deep sensitivity and great sensuality (just watch when Hervé is in the Japanese wooden tub, and the girl pours water on his face and lips with her fingers). The settings and sceneries are overwhelming: there's so much beauty-like the snow covered trees in Japan, the Joncour garden, ... François Girard had already shown how a fantastic Director he is with his 2 previous films, and now with Silk! He has such a strong aesthetic sense, and a great way to direct actors...

This movie was very good. I know a lot of reviewers were bored and didn't like that there wasn't subtitles for the Japanese. Admittedly the issue with the subtitles would have made the movie easier to understand. In the middle of the movie there is some confusion about what exactly has transpired between Pitt and his Japanese contact and why the initial interlude between Pitt and the Japanese concubine occurs in the first place but these don't seem to be so dear to the plot that you can't remain in the dark and still get the point of the movie.

The landscape is breathtaking, the acting was great by every member of the supporting cast. I like Michael Pitt, but it seems like he can only play one character and it's the throaty sensitive guy. I was surprised that Keira Knightley took such a minor role but the punch at the end gives her character quite a bit of intrigue. As always she is wonderful and I liked Alfred Molina as well.

The cinematography was good and understated. The script was simple and it didn't seem like they wasted any words. Quite the opposite in fact.

I understand why others didn't like it but I get the impression that this is due to a lack of patience on their part.

Good movie. Try it out.

Adapted from a rather short but great novel, they had space to expand it in the movie but didn't make the most of it. It has nice cinematography, a good soundtrack (with a beautiful main theme used in trailers), solid base story and good acting by Kiera Knightley. However, it's a love story and I wasn't moved by the romantic aspects one bit. I think the main fault lies with the main actor who just didn't convey emotions well enough. He looks good but seriously lacks in acting chops, at least in this one. The chemistry between the actors was also severely lacking. The pace was slow, which can sometimes work in period pieces to improve the atmosphere, but unfortunately here it was mostly a detriment. It might be worth a rental but I would pick other period romantic stories first.

Rating: 5 out of 10