Silk 2007

Stephen Holden, New York Times: [Director] Girard confuses pretty scenery doused in ponderous music with epic visual poetry. Impenetrable musings intended to evoke ineffable romantic longing leave you scratching your head as you wait, ever more impatiently, for something to happen. Read more

Joshua Katzman, Chicago Reader: Francois Girard's adaptation of Alessandro Baricco's novel is a visually arresting period piece, set in the 1860s, that addresses memory and loss. Read more

John Hartl, Seattle Times: Faithful to the book but much less stylish, it succeeds only in demonstrating that Michael Pitt can cause anyone's eyelids to droop when he's handed the leading role. Read more

Nathan Rabin, AV Club: Sensual but profoundly silly, Silk is ultimately little more than softcore porn with arthouse trappings, a moony, dopily romantic Red Shoe Diaries variation for the NPR set. Read more

Kevin Crust, Los Angeles Times: [Alfred] Molina, as Baldabiou, is the only cast member who transcends the material -- as he always does -- and his scenes are considerably more invigorated than the rest of the film. Read more

Bruce Westbrook, Houston Chronicle: Although the period-piece film has all the trappings, from beautiful people to an obligatory sense of tragedy, it never follows through. In fact, its love story needs a shove -- it just lies there. Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: What we're told in Silk is that Michael Pitt is a French 19th-century silkworm merchant in love with his wife but obsessed with a mysterious woman he glimpses on business in Japan. What we see is a mopey fellow without the energy to comb his hair Read more

Jan Stuart, Newsday: The stilted dialogue makes all of the actors sound as if they're being dubbed into English, badly, especially the English-speaking ones (Alfred Molina, looking seriously bored). Read more

Jack Mathews, New York Daily News: Limp satire. Read more

Kyle Smith, New York Post: As sensuous as its title, Silk is an exquisitely felt love story that unfolds as delicately as a blooming flower. And as slowly. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: It's a perfect example of how awful direction and performances can ruin an adequate screenplay. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: Silk is a languid, too languid, story of romantic regrets, mostly ours, because romance is expected to carry the film without explaining it. Read more

Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle: The main problem is the casting, with Michael Pitt and Keira Knightley evidently competing to see who can be more attractive and vacuous. Read more

Jeff Strickler, Minneapolis Star Tribune: If there were an award for the gloomiest movie of the year, Silk would win hands down. Read more

Stephen Cole, Globe and Mail: Though elegantly staged, Silk is badly written and indifferently cast. Read more

Susan Walker, Toronto Star: Francois Girard's Silk is not merely painterly. It might as well be a painting, for all that it eschews storytelling, forcing the viewer to scan the lush imagery in search of clues to what, if anything, might be going on. Read more

Maitland McDonagh, Time Out: Read more

Todd McCarthy, Variety: Vacuous, arid and terminally dull. Read more

Julia Wallace, Village Voice: Silk isn't just bad. It's utterly mad. Read more