Soie

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

I also can understand why a person may not like this movie. However, if you can truly appreciate the goal and the direction of the director's vision than you should like it. The scenery and music added depth and meaning to the story. I think there should have been Japanese subtitles so as to not lose the audience's attention and interest. I was left wanting more. I don't know if that is a good thing or a bad thing. I wanted the plot to be a bit more "spicy". But i can appreciate the director and writer's vision of the movie. This is a good movie to watch when you want to relax and mellow out. The ending was the best part of the movie. There was a bit of a twist which added meaning and understanding. Even though i wanted things to be a bit more spicy the end of the movie justified the lack of it.

This movie tries to be an epic, period piece romantic drama. It has some of the main ingredients that are required to pull this off. There's costumes, travels, some beautiful (that's the only reason I gave it a 2/10) landscape shots, a guy, women, a not-too-subtle score to pull big emotions from us, all are present. But the most important ingredient they forgot: there's no heart. There's no passion. There's no chemistry at all. They even didn't take time to develop the Love between the main characters. Guy sees girl in bar (2 seconds). Then they walk past some flowers. Girl likes flowers. Guy eats a flower. They are in love. Sadly, I do not make this up. It is this shallow. And this is supposed to be the base for the rest of the movie. Well, it's just completely unbelievable. The dialogues are cheesy clichés and completely uninspired ("I will always love you" every time the guy goes on a trip; 4 times?), the acting is borderline amateuristic. Watching a movie can be a wonderful experience, it can draw you in, it can get under your skin, can touch something deep inside. This movie wants to be/ do all of that, but it fails completely. Bad movie making. A waste of time.

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.

This film was actually good, and I expected the worst :)...

It's interesting to watch with somebody of the opposite sex that you don't know well. You could tell a few things about her afterwards, like: Does she like classical music? Does she feel anything when watching splendid landscapes? Is she intelligent enough to figure the story's twist near the end? (I wasn't even close) Does she like "slow" movies? Can she withstand a moderate dose of "drama"? Can she feel Helene's plight?

The only character I really liked was Afred Molina's "Baldabiou". He's an entrepreneur with flavour for life. Likable, tough but sensitive. A "father figure" to "Herve", who sorely needs one with such a bore of a father! Herve's attitude to life was a bit strange to me. My friend said something that's always been there: "he never smiles". True, he barely winces, never seems to be happy, just like drowsily fulfilling a desk job. Schuyler was great in his small role. How a street smart adversary can become a restrained source of practical wisdom! Madame Blanche is also a necessary small role, but that has the life experience Herve will always lack. He surely got sympathy from smart strangers! I didn't get involved in Ludovic Berbek's story, although it's there with the clear intention of moving us. I also thought all this story of "marital unhappiness", infertility and she crying as they made love was a bit contrived. I will never like Keira, but at least she doesn't look like a "tomboy beanpole" (!) as she said on one interview. Which wouldn't be becoming for her "modest wife" role. She's not as good as her Guinevere, but at least she does her rather plain role without showing off. She doesn't look anorexic like in other roles. Maybe she didn't endure wearing a corset like on "Pirates of the Caribbean".

The best review I read was "Grady Harp from United States". I think it deserves to be the one you read first.

My favourite scene is when the local baron shows cold Herve the peaceful place he and his ancestors enjoy for watching nature and connecting with nature. I also wanted to "have a garden" after watching this, thou I content myself with some plants in the balcony :)! And Japan shows itself like a harsh country, both geographically and with respect to the Japanese. An ancient land with rules hard to understand by any westerner. I did like the fact that the Japanese dialogues weren't subtitled. Unlike "Memoirs of a Geisha" & even "the last Samurai" I think that made us feel a bit like it must have been. The sort of "ostrananie" experience that the Russian formalist extolled as "Art".