BuzzSugar

Silk: Pretty but Empty

BuzzSugar — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 14:39:10 -0700

Silk is like that good-looking celebrity you admire from afar for a while, and when you finally get the chance to sit down and talk to them, they turn out to be vapid and uninteresting. The strength of this movie lies in the visuals, as was the case with another of director François Girard's aesthetically appealing films, The Red Violin. Nature appears to be at its most lush and there are some gorgeous costumes. François Girard and his cinematographer Alain Dostie also seem to have a love for Asian cultures, creating stunning shots of the landscape and people alike. Yet beyond the visuals the movie has an empty feeling to it.

Michael Pitt sleepily plays Hervé, a young silk merchant who travels to a remote part of Japan for healthy eggs at the prompting of his ambitious boss Baldabiou (Alfred Molina, bringing his usual strength and warmth). While there, he encounters a beautiful concubine with whom he becomes obsessed. Even when he's not required to return to Japan and despite political strife rendering the journey dangerous, he goes anyway, inexplicably drawn to this woman with whom he can't even communicate. For more about Silk, read more

Keira Knightley plays Hervé's willowy and devoted wife Helene, and she does just fine with the role. In many ways, this is Helene's story more than her husband's, and while Knightley is pretty and tries her best, the material she's given is flimsy at best. Pitt gives her blessed little to work with as well, his efforts to be (I think) introspective and thoughtful coming across instead as sluggish and confused.

Silk is based on a lovely, sensual, Italian novel by Alessandro Baricco, and I can easily understand why one would want to visually interpret the lyrical beauty of the words. It's a sweet story but doesn't lend itself to a lot of intriguing action or dialogue - only a succession of beautiful frames. That's nice and all, but I left the movie wishing the filmmakers' efforts had gone toward making paintings or photographs rather than an ill-conceived movie.

Source

Movie Preview: Silk

BuzzSugar — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 15:25:48 -0700

Opening in limited release this Friday, Silk follows "a married silkworm merchant-turned-smuggler (Michael Pitt) in 19th century France traveling to Japan for his town's supply of silkworms after a disease wipes out their African supply. During his stay in Japan, he becomes obsessed with the concubine of a local baron." Keira Knightley and Alfred Molina also star, so I look forward to seeing Silk as soon as possible. To check out the gorgeous trailer, read more

Source

Fall Movie Preview: The Period Pieces

BuzzSugar — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 07:30:00 -0700

We may not be getting the crisp fall weather just yet, but we are getting previews for tons of movies opening in the fall. In preparation for this autumn and winter at the theaters, I've broken up the lengthy list of upcoming movies into many small themes for my Fall Movie Preview series. This way, you'll be in the know when the chillier months roll around, bringing a whole new crop of new films. For today's preview, let's go back in time and check out some of the period pieces coming to a theater near you.

Silk
One of the two period movies coming out this fall that stars Keira Knightley, Silk tells the story of "a married silkworm merchant-turned-smuggler [Michael Pitt] in 19th century France traveling to Japan for his town's supply of silkworms after a disease wipes out their African supply. During his stay in Japan, he becomes obsessed with the concubine of a local baron." Knightley plays the silkworm merchant's wife Helene. This film looks like it will be beautiful, and as it also stars Alfred Molina I'm already on board to see it when it comes out September 14.

More great period pieces coming out this fall, so read more

Lust, Caution
Ang Lee's follow-up project to his critically successful Brokeback Mountain is the much anticipated thriller Lust, Caution. This time he's trading in the lovestruck cowboys for lovestruck spies in post-WWII Shanghai. In the movie, "a young woman, Wang Jiazhi (Tang Wei), gets swept up in a dangerous game of emotional intrigue with a powerful political figure, Mr. Yee (Tony Leung)." From the trailer it seems that Lee continues to be a master of visual storytelling, every lush frame evoking passion, fear and sensuality without anyone saying a word. I'll be in line to see this one when it opens September 28.

Love in the Time of Cholera
Based on the beloved novel by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Love in the Time of Cholera follows "a love triangle set in turn-of-the-century South America, where two lovers wait out careers, marriages, affairs and deaths until they can reunite." There's an interesting cast attached to this one, which includes John Leguizamo, Liev Schreiber, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Javier Bardem and Benjamin Bratt. Mike Newell (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) directs. I'm surprised it took this long for the book to be adapted, but now that it has been, I'll be curious to see how it's done. Love in the Time of Cholera opens November 16.

Atonement
I couldn't resist posting the trailer for Atonement recently because the cast is just so darn attractive. Also, it looks like a successful and gorgeous WWII romantic drama. Keira Knightley and the beautiful James McAvoy star as lovers whose affair is interrupted when the young Briony (Saoirse Ronan, who is also in another movie this fall, and is set to play Susie in Peter Jackson's adaptation of The Lovely Bones) makes a false accusation. If you haven't yet watched the lovely trailer, I suggest you do so before Atonement opens December 7 in the U.S. (or September 7 in the U.K.). Also, check out the Ian McEwan novel on which the movie is based.

Silk and Love photos source
Lust and Atonement photos source