Although the story involves several journeys half way across the globe, it is nowhere near an epic tale of broad sweep. While the action (actually bad choice of word) takes place in two places, the protagonist's home town in France and a village in Japan, the journey in between is handled with brevity, just something that needs to be covered but not dwelled on. What we have is a very intimate story of when happens to the protagonist in these two places, or, to make it even more intimate, what happened in the MIND of the protagonist. I'll come back to this.
The plot is actually quite simple. A somewhat undistinguished young man in a small town in 19th century France (English is the proxy language for the movie) falls in love and marries an attractive young woman. At the same time, he becomes, quite unintentionally, a trader commissioned by a silk manufacturer to go to Japan to buy the best quality silk-worm eggs (to ensure that they will not be infected before hedging). Right away, you can see the dramatic elements risks of financial disaster, political intrigues (in Japan), risks if personal safety. While all of these are used in the movie, they are not what the movie is about.
The story, told entirely through voice over of the protagonist Herve, is about an intimate emotional inside his mind. (At the end, we find that there is an actual audience who is, however, quite inconsequential to the story). Except for a livelihood that takes him away for a couple of month each year, there seems nothing lacking in Herve's life. He has grown rich through the trade. His lovely wife Helene is understanding and loving. It is indeed a setback that they have not been able to have any children but they have learned to live with it. But then, the journeys to Japan has given rise to something deeply disturbing, an infatuation with a mysterious young woman that soon turns into an obsession, an obsession to such an extent that it begins to gnaw his soul even when he is back home.
(Additional spoiler warning) Many people have expressed dissatisfaction with the movie's apparent failure to explain many things about this mysterious woman in Japan. But towards the end of the movie, it will gradually dawn on you that this movie have little to do with what happens in Japan, and a lot to do with what happens back home. The one twist close to the end (which can almost be described as a delightful surprise) makes it all too clear. What we are dealing with the whole time is what happens in Herve's mind, and there, the mysterious Japanese woman could very well be a figment of his imagination.
The vote seems unanimous that Michael Pitt who plays Herves is the weakest link. He sleepwalks and murmurs through the movie as if his is playing the main character of Dicken's last, unfinished novel "The mystery of Edwin Drood" (someone who is in an opium hallucination half the time). I appreciate that he is trying to portrayed Herves as imagined by the author (of the book) and screenwriter. But he has not been successful.
The rest of the cast, fortunately, is redeeming. Keira Knightley does not seem too impressive, until towards the end. Then, you begin to see why she was selected for the role Helene, who has more than meets the eyes. Alfred Molina adds more to the role of the trade manufacturer than it would suggest, as he always does with any role he plays. Koji Yakusho, probably the best known Japanese actor today to anyone who follows the Japanese cinema (not Hollywood Japanese), plays the nobleman who trades with Herves. A delightful surprise is seeing Miki Nakatani who played the young woman Hermes in Densha Otoko (Train man) (2005). In "Silk", she is the enchanting Madame Blanche who translates the Japanese letter for Herves.
There are some fine cinematography in Silk, in both the snow-bound Japanese landscape and the hauntingly beautiful forest Herve's hometown.
The plot is actually quite simple. A somewhat undistinguished young man in a small town in 19th century France (English is the proxy language for the movie) falls in love and marries an attractive young woman. At the same time, he becomes, quite unintentionally, a trader commissioned by a silk manufacturer to go to Japan to buy the best quality silk-worm eggs (to ensure that they will not be infected before hedging). Right away, you can see the dramatic elements risks of financial disaster, political intrigues (in Japan), risks if personal safety. While all of these are used in the movie, they are not what the movie is about.
The story, told entirely through voice over of the protagonist Herve, is about an intimate emotional inside his mind. (At the end, we find that there is an actual audience who is, however, quite inconsequential to the story). Except for a livelihood that takes him away for a couple of month each year, there seems nothing lacking in Herve's life. He has grown rich through the trade. His lovely wife Helene is understanding and loving. It is indeed a setback that they have not been able to have any children but they have learned to live with it. But then, the journeys to Japan has given rise to something deeply disturbing, an infatuation with a mysterious young woman that soon turns into an obsession, an obsession to such an extent that it begins to gnaw his soul even when he is back home.
(Additional spoiler warning) Many people have expressed dissatisfaction with the movie's apparent failure to explain many things about this mysterious woman in Japan. But towards the end of the movie, it will gradually dawn on you that this movie have little to do with what happens in Japan, and a lot to do with what happens back home. The one twist close to the end (which can almost be described as a delightful surprise) makes it all too clear. What we are dealing with the whole time is what happens in Herve's mind, and there, the mysterious Japanese woman could very well be a figment of his imagination.
The vote seems unanimous that Michael Pitt who plays Herves is the weakest link. He sleepwalks and murmurs through the movie as if his is playing the main character of Dicken's last, unfinished novel "The mystery of Edwin Drood" (someone who is in an opium hallucination half the time). I appreciate that he is trying to portrayed Herves as imagined by the author (of the book) and screenwriter. But he has not been successful.
The rest of the cast, fortunately, is redeeming. Keira Knightley does not seem too impressive, until towards the end. Then, you begin to see why she was selected for the role Helene, who has more than meets the eyes. Alfred Molina adds more to the role of the trade manufacturer than it would suggest, as he always does with any role he plays. Koji Yakusho, probably the best known Japanese actor today to anyone who follows the Japanese cinema (not Hollywood Japanese), plays the nobleman who trades with Herves. A delightful surprise is seeing Miki Nakatani who played the young woman Hermes in Densha Otoko (Train man) (2005). In "Silk", she is the enchanting Madame Blanche who translates the Japanese letter for Herves.
There are some fine cinematography in Silk, in both the snow-bound Japanese landscape and the hauntingly beautiful forest Herve's hometown.