Silk
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-- Picturesque but utterly vapid 19th-century period piece about a French ex-soldier (Michael Pitt) sent to Japan by a silk merchant (Alfred Molina) to purchase healthy eggs to restore the local silk business ravaged by a silkworm-egg epidemic; he becomes obsessed by a concubine (Sei Ashina) of the baron (Koji Yakusho) with whom he does business, while his schoolteacher wife (Keira Knightley) waits patiently behind. Francois Girard directs the story at an excruciatingly slow pace, and Pitt's droning narration -- he and the other French characters speak with flat American accents -- together with dialogue that is less than inspired create a general tedium unredeemed by a final plot twist. Upper female nudity, nongraphic sexual encounters, adultery theme, a restrained brothel scene and the image of a hanging corpse. A-III -- adults. (R) 2007
"Silk" (Picturehouse) is a picturesque but utterly vapid 19th-century period piece adapted from Alessandro Baricco's 1996 best-seller.
Beginning in a small French town, ex-soldier Herve Joncour (Michael Pitt) is persuaded by silk merchant Baldabiou (Alfred Molina) not to return to military life, but rather to undertake an arduous journey to Japan to purchase precious silkworm eggs.
This, Baldabiou hopes, will restore the town's silk business, which has been ravaged by a widespread silkworm-egg epidemic.
After traveling thousands of miles, Herve reaches his destination, where he negotiates with the formidable local baron, Hara Jubel (Koji Yakusho), and soon falls for the baron's comely concubine (Sei Ashina).
Meanwhile, his schoolteacher wife, Helene (Keira Knightley), waits patiently behind, with only her lush garden to console her.
Francois Girard ("The Red Violin") directs the story at an excruciatingly slow pace. Pitt's droning narration -- he and the other French characters speak with flat American accents -- together with the less-than-inspired dialogue (courtesy of Girard and Michael Golding) and Ryuichi Sakamoto's somber underscoring are also detrimental. The overall tedium is unredeemed by a mildly surprising final plot twist.
The film contains upper female nudity, nongraphic sexual encounters, an adultery theme, a restrained brothel scene and an image of a hanging corpse. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-III -- adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R -- restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.
Movies have been evaluated by the U.S. Conference of Catholic
Bishop's Office for Film and Broadcasting according to artistic
merit and moral suitability. The reviews include the USCCB rating,
the Motion Picture Association of America rating, and a brief
synopsis of the movie.
The classifications are as follows:
- A-I -- general patronage;
- A-II -- adults and adolescents;
- A-III -- adults;
- A-IV**
- L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. L replaces the previous classification, A-IV.
- O -- morally offensive.
** Discontinued classification. All archived movies that were originally in the A-IV category are now classified as L.