Stylish but barely mediocre overall

An absolute waste of money

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

Excellent cinematography and fine performances. This is the first time I've seen Keira Knightley turn in such a subtle and faceted performance. It suits her well.Other reviewers complained about things like lack of subtitles for the Japanese dialogue, lack of emotion in the performances, lack of believability in the infatuation that takes place in Japan, and complaints that the film was 'too slow'.First: The Japanese dialogue didn't require subtitles. An observant viewer could figure out what's going on easily enough.Second: This is one of the few films out there that actually dialed-down the tendency to over-act scenes. For this reason, it's a more realistic portrayal of human beings. I'm noticing a definite increase in the number of people out there that can't seem to identify subtle emotions. Not sure what's up with that. It's a disturbing trend.Third: Clearly people who don't believe the in-Japan romance portion of this film have never experienced love at first sight (or maybe they're inexperienced in relationships).Fourth: Complaints of this genre of film being too slow are ridiculous. My advice for people who have this complaint is to stick to action films (or practise observing and acknowledging visual information). Maybe take up hiking or an art class. That might help.In summary, if you have a sophisticated eye for film and are mature enough in areas of romance (failed or otherwise), this is a film that you'll likely appreciate.

Good: Scenes with scenery of Japan were breathtaking, very well shot. Lighting was good throughout the movie. Dark scenes were perfect, details were still viewable. Bad: Keira Knightley needs to eat something. Story was quite slow and left a lot out. Why was the man interested in the Japanese girl (other than the fact she was hot.) Why would the girl be interested in the man? They don't even speak the same language and they almost never even made eye contact. At least hint at something rather than giving us a complete void.Ugly: Michael Pitt was bland, lifeless. the guy who played Annakin Skywalker was horrible but at least he had a pulse. Pitt played his character like a zombie. Why? Is a man desperately in lust with an apparition from a foreign country going to walk around like a man in a coma? Ridiculous.Score: 5/10. (4 points for the scenery. Half a point to Keira for trying. Half a point for the twist at the end.)

Adapted from a rather short but great novel, they had space to expand it in the movie but didn't make the most of it. It has nice cinematography, a good soundtrack (with a beautiful main theme used in trailers), solid base story and good acting by Kiera Knightley. However, it's a love story and I wasn't moved by the romantic aspects one bit. I think the main fault lies with the main actor who just didn't convey emotions well enough. He looks good but seriously lacks in acting chops, at least in this one. The chemistry between the actors was also severely lacking. The pace was slow, which can sometimes work in period pieces to improve the atmosphere, but unfortunately here it was mostly a detriment. It might be worth a rental but I would pick other period romantic stories first.Rating: 5 out of 10

In 1862, the son of the mayor of a French village, Hervé Joncour (Michael Pitt), is invited by the silk entrepreneur Baldabiou (Alfred Molina) to travel to Africa to bring healthy silkworm eggs for his factory. Hervé first marries his beloved bride Hélène Joncour (Keira Knightley) and then he travels in the long journey. He succeeds, makes fortune and is invited to travel again to trade silkworm eggs in a longer journey to Japan. He is received by the local baron in a secret spot and falls in love for his Chinese concubine. Hervé returns to Hélène, but remains obsessed in the concubine. When he has a chance, he returns to Japan to trade the eggs and stay with his unattainable love."Silk" is an emotionless romance with wonderful cinematography and locations and completely miscast. The expressionless baby face Michael Pitt is an insipid and weak actor and could never have the lead role. I am a great fan of Keira Knightley, but the make-up work is very poor and she does not look aged or ill in the end of the story. The situation exposed in the movie is quite ridiculous: Hervé is just-married and in deep love for Hélène; when he travels to Japan, a concubine only glances at him and touches him in the bath, and that is enough for him to become obsessed by the woman. I can not believe that a successful novel could be so shallow. My vote is six.Title (Brazil): "Paixão Proibida" ("Forbidden Passion")