Soft and slow

>> François Girard’s Silk is
beautiful but exasperating

by JASON BOGDANERIS

I’d like to think we have evolved beyond the concept of a “woman’s picture,” but Silk makes me think otherwise. Because really, who else would be interested in this dated fiction of the sensitive man whose only flaw, it seems, is that he loves too much? This is all the more disappointing since director François Girard represents one of the few hopes for viable international Canadian cinema.

Those who saw The Red Violin will recognize the sheer beauty of the cinematography—and also the glacial pace. Set in the 19th century, when the silk trade was all the rage, the film stars Michael Pitt as Hervé Joncour, who undertakes the then arduous journey to Japan in search of silkworm eggs and instead finds love—or something like it. The object of his lustful affection is a concubine who interacts with her environment as if she were some exotic animal, slithering around him wordlessly and rubbing up against her master like a cat.

Back in France he has a wife whom he adores and who adores him, despite his long absences and the womanly intuition that he’s pining after more than the scenery when he talks about Japan. This allows Keira Knightley to appear beautiful and long-suffering in period dress. Fearing the pretty couple may still appear too happily idyllic, the narrative also calls for her to be unable to bear children—cue longing looks out the window at the French countryside.

Now, I don’t want to give the impression that the film’s a complete waste of time, because it’s not. The fantastic scenery and well-crafted details had me glued to the screen most of the time—when I wasn’t rolling my eyes in exasperation—but when you get beneath the surfaces, it’s a film that panders to its audience. Those for whom Michael Pitt is an object of baby-faced adoration get two fantasies for the price of one. There’s the impossible love that can never be and the idyllic one that is. Having that love further imperiled by another twist at the end is sentimentality masquerading as emotional depth. Girard has a virtuoso’s feel for the medium but I can’t help thinking Canada deserves a better ambassador.

Silk opens this Friday, Sept. 21

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