Le mystère Silkwood

This movie was only a glimpse into the future. We all, should be very thankful that Hollywood had the guts to produce a story like this. Meryl Streep did a wonderful job of portraying Karen Silkwood. This movie was only a glimpse into the future. I think this movie was a real eye opener at the time. Unfortunately, now there are enough true stories out there like this, it would keep Hollywood busy full time, if they produced them all. Meryl Streep you are my star for ever, but please mentor someone else with your talent. Our country needs it.

With CSI on TV today it would be nice to have a spin off with details of Karen's head x-rays and auto damage in order to get closer to the truth. A modern day story called 'Wounded Bear' depicts a very similar story. This story has CT's and would bring you to the truth of both stories. I have Silkwood

on tape because I feel it is an important part of history.

As we don't really know what happened to Karen Silkwood for an exact certainty this film gives us a pretty accurate account of those last months of her life when a very ordinary and pedestrian life became a symbol of union activism and the power of plutocracy to have their way.

When Harvey Milk went out and became a gay activist he reflected that in the 40 years he'd been living on planet earth he hadn't really left much of a mark up to that time. Karen Silkwood didn't even have that much time left to her. The last couple of years of her life were devoted to union activism and it was that activism that indirectly or directly led to her death depending on your point of view.

As an a union leader she even faced the criticisms of her own rank and file for not working as they felt for more traditional issues like a pay raise, less hours etc. Her concentration was the plant safety at Kerr- McGee where she and others worked making plutonium pellets for nuclear fuel rods. As such she and her co-workers were exposed to radiation, exposed a lot more she feared than her employers let on. That's fairly well proved in the film and in life.

As to her death the speculation is that it was not just an automobile accident, but something that was arranged by Kerr-McGee as she was on her way to meet a New York Times reporter with documentation of Kerr- McGee's failings on the issue of safety. That's the part that has left her story a mystery until this day, a mystery that the film Silkwood takes no real position.

But despite that the film got five Oscar nominations for Meryl Streep one of her collection of Best Actress nominations for the title role. Mike Nichols got one for Best Director and there were nominations in the writing and editing categories.

Cher spread her thespian wings in Silkwood playing Streep's best friend and lesbian roommate and fellow worker. She got some deserved rave reviews and this led to a second career as actress. In her whole career Cher has never really mixed her singing and her acting. Thirty years ago she probably would have been Hollywood musicals of mixed quality so she's eschewed musical films. I think that's conscious decision she's made and it's worked out well for her.

Sadly being ignored by the Academy was Kurt Russell playing Streep's live in boyfriend. From child actor to Disney bubble gum star to action adventure films, Russell finally got a real acting role he could create a character with and did so. Mostly his career has been action/adventure stuff, but here and in other films like Unlawful Entry and the Mean Season he's shown some acting chops without shooting people or breaking heads.

The film Silkwood as a totality is not as good as the outstanding performances these three players give in it. But it still remains a testament to the life and example of Karen Silkwood.

One of the things that many movies are missing these days are the small details and things that happen in everyday life - and how we are able to learn about characters through small visual clues rather than the large hammer of exposition-driven dialogue.

For instance, in the scene where the characters are looking at the slides of the trip to Washington: towards the end are two photos with Streep and Ron Silver's character. In the second photo, she leans into him a little bit. That tiny bit of body language makes us wonder - and Kurt Russell's character too. He suddenly moves his arm from around Streep's and suddenly she's aware that something's wrong. It's all in the unspoken. There isn't a preceding scene where she picks up the other guy, or goes to bed with him or even lies to Kurt Russell. It just cuts to this scene, and we the viewer learn along with Kurt that she's been unfaithful - which also reveals a little more about this person Karen Silkwood.

She's not a perfect hero - she's flighty, irresponsible, impulsive and non-committal - so the question becomes, why did she change? Why did she risk her life when she finally truly understood the risks? And how does Kurt Russell come to terms with this changed person he is in love with, given that he is just a guy who knows how to fix a car not save the world?

Watch Mike Nichols' inspired direction; he rarely cuts away in the middle of a scene. A lot of Kurt, Cher and Meryl's acting happens all in one take. *That's* truly good acting and directing.

Good dialogue in a film is in knowing what's happening without it being said. Don't fast forward the first hour - really pay attention and see how much you learn from the small details that will enrich your viewing of this film.

Karen Silkwood (Meryl Streep) lives in Oklahoma with her boyfriend Drew Stephens (Kurt Russell) and best friend lesbian Dolly Pelliker (Cher). Her kids live with their father in Texas. The three friends are low-skilled workers at the Kerr-McGee Cimarron Site where they manufacture fuel rods for nuclear reactors. With mounting work and lax safety, Karen starts to talk union causing tension with the company. Eventually, she gets mysteriously irradiated.

Meryl Streep is the best. She delivers a fully-fleshed out character of real depth. The movie is a bit slow and meandering. It would be great to have a tighter and more direct film. Then there is the final text. It seems like a bunch of stuff from the legal department to safeguard against lawsuits. They may as well fictionalize the movie instead. The performances are terrific. The story is compelling.

I took the time to register with IMDB just to present a more accurate review of this movie than the person that wrote that the movie was a joke. While not one of the best movies of its type, it's still pretty well done. The story moves along well....clues are dropped throughout the movie to show the possible conspiracy at work. I would consider "The Insider" as one of the better movies of this type that was made in recent years, and even that movie shows traces of having evolved from movies like Silkwood.

I find most movies of this type that were done in the 80s as generally pretty cheesy. Silkwood does a pretty good job of "not being too cheesy". And if there is any trace of "cheesiness" (if you will), it's represented in the way that the townspeople react to Karen Silkwood. And the reactions worked for me, because when I think of how seriously people reacted to issues like nuclear or toxic contamination back in the late 70s/early 80s, there was a lot less info available. Nowadays in the "Oprah" and "11 o'clock news warnings" generation, where there's something new that we should be cautious of everyday, these types of stories are much more believable.

Meryl Streep (as expected) far outshines the rest of the cast. Kurt Russell turns out a pretty nice performance. Cher's performance was ok. I think at the time she probably received a lot more recognition for this role because it began to show her range. But she's been better in subsequent roles.

All in all, Silkwood is a movie that doesn't suprise or open the eyes of all the conspiracy- conscious people that are alive in 2003, but it does provide a touching story about a town that was dealing with the prospect of having to choose between the risk of toxic infection and their livelihood. But the real story here is about the one woman that cared enough to dig a little and ask a few questions and the danger that developed from taking a stand. 8 out of 10.