Silk

Silk *1/2

Directed by François Girard
Written by François Girard, based on the novel by Alessandro Baricco

Starring:
Keira Knightley as Hélène Joncour
Alfred Molina as Baldabiou
Michael Pitt as Hervé Joncour
Kenneth Welsh as Mayor Joncour
Martha Burns as Mme. Joncour
Marc Fiorini as M. Chabert
Leslie Csuth as M. Loiseau

110 Minutes(Rated R for sexuality and nudity. )
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
I think one of the hardest genres to really capture-aside from comedy which is difficult because everyone is subjective when it comes to laughs-is the period drama. The period drama, when done well, could be a visual feast, filled with an interesting look at history, and full of very well acted-almost Shakespearian performances. When done badly, the period drama could be a dreadful bore-as was the case with last summer's "Goya's Ghosts," which was just painful to watch. Now we have "Silk," which sadly ends up being in the latter category. I heard bad early reviews from it from people that I met at Toronto Film Festival, and the end result justified what they said about it.

Michael Pitt-who has done decent work in the past, especially in "Delirious"-stars as Hervé Joncour, a man living in 19th century France who married Hélène Joncour-played by Keira Knightly. To make a little extra money for his new family, Herve ends up getting a job for Baldabiou as an illegal silk smuggler. Herve goes into Japan, certainly not allowed to be there, once a year and goes hunting for silk. One summer he ends up meeting a woman and becomes obsessed with her. So obsessed that the next summer he goes to Japan to look for silk he looks for her, even though his pregnant wife is at home waiting for him.

There's certainly a small amount of poignancy in this story. It begins about a man that is torn between two worlds-the world that he knows is the right place for him to be back in France, and then the world where he wants to be which is in Japan. But then it questions if this mystery woman in Japan is even good for him at all, and why would he want to give up true love for a forbidden desire. The problem with the film is that nobody seemed to have any energy or brought any life into it at all, and that's why the movie fell into the dreadful bore category. The actors played their lines without any emotion, and as we drift slowly scene by scene, I began to get a bit sleepy. The only thing that really pumped life into it were the visuals, and we have some nice landscapes here. I'm disappointed with Kiera Knightly, who was so good in 'Pride and Prejudice" from 2005, and she just has the look of a period drama. She fits naturally within the setting, and the others like Pitt and Molina just don't exactly seem to fit, especially Pitt that often ends up playing the strong silent type-but not interesting characters-especially in Gus van Sant's "Last Days." "Silk" is a tiresome period drama, and when it is done you won't be inspired or heartbroken or awed. It is just is.

Now Playing At:
AMC Empire 25
CC Cinemas Village East