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Silk (2007 Film)
''Silk'' is a 2007 drama film directed by François Girard. An international co-production of Canada, Italy and Japan, ''Silk'' is an adaptation of Italian author Alessandro Baricco's 1996 novel of the same name. It had its world premiere at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival on September 11, 2007. American actor Michael Pitt stars in the lead role of the French silkworm smuggler Hervé Joncour, with English actress Keira Knightley as his wife, Hélène, a teacher and keen gardener. Japanese actors Miki Nakatani and Kōji Yakusho are also featured. Exterior Japanese scenes were filmed in the city of Sakata. Knightley's scenes were filmed in Sermoneta, Italy, a small medieval village near Latina. Hélène's garden was filmed at Villa Lina, near Ronciglione. Plot The film opens with Hervé narrating his observations of an unidentified Asian woman bathing in a hot spring, then stating that his story actually begins earlier, when he returned to his hometown in 19t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
François Girard
François Girard (born January 12, 1963) is a French Canadian film director, director and screenwriter from Montreal. Born in Saint-Félicien, Quebec, Girard's career began on the Montreal art video circuit. In 1990, he produced his first feature film, ''Cargo (1990 film), Cargo''; he attained international recognition following his 1993 ''Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould'', a series of vignettes about the life of piano prodigy Glenn Gould. In 1998, he wrote and directed ''The Red Violin'', which follows the ownership of a red violin over several centuries. ''The Red Violin'' won an Academy Award for Best Original Score, thirteen Genie Awards and nine Jutra Awards. He has also directed various works for the stage, including Stravinsky's ''Symphony of Psalms'', ''Oedipus rex (opera), Oedipus Rex'' and ''Novencento'' at the Edinburgh International Festival; Kafka's ''The Trial'', adapted for the stage by Serge Lamothe at the National Arts Centre, Ottawa; the oratorio ''Lost ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2007 Toronto International Film Festival
The 2007 Toronto International Film Festival was a 32nd annual film festival held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It ran from September 6, 2007 to September 15, 2007. The lineup consisted of 349 films from 55 countries, selected from 4156 submissions. The selection included 275 mid- to feature-length films, of which 234 were premieres, with 71 by first-time directors. The festival was attended by members of the industry, press and general public. It opened with the world premiere of Jeremy Podeswa's ''Fugitive Pieces'', a film based on the international bestselling novel by Anne Michaels, and closed with Paolo Barzman's ''Emotional Arithmetic''. Film reception Critical favourites included '' No Country for Old Men'', '' The Diving Bell and the Butterfly'' and ''4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days'' which were equally well received at the Cannes Film Festival, plus the Joy Division biopic '' Control'' which, along with the eponymously titled documentary on the band, ''Joy Division'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bakumatsu
was the final years of the Edo period when the Tokugawa shogunate ended. Between 1853 and 1867, Japan ended its isolationist foreign policy known as and changed from a feudal Tokugawa shogunate to the modern empire of the Meiji government. The major ideological-political divide during this period was between the pro-imperial nationalists called and the shogunate forces, which included the elite swordsmen. Although these two groups were the most visible powers, many other factions attempted to use the chaos of to seize personal power.Hillsborough, ''page # needed'' Furthermore, there were two other main driving forces for dissent: first, growing resentment on the part of the (or outside lords), and second, growing anti-Western sentiment following the arrival of Matthew C. Perry. The first related to those lords whose predecessors had fought against Tokugawa forces at the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, after which they had been permanently excluded from all powerful p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Silkworm
The domestic silk moth (''Bombyx mori''), is an insect from the moth family Bombycidae. It is the closest relative of '' Bombyx mandarina'', the wild silk moth. The silkworm is the larva or caterpillar of a silk moth. It is an economically important insect, being a primary producer of silk. A silkworm's preferred food are white mulberry leaves, though they may eat other mulberry species and even the osage orange. Domestic silk moths are entirely dependent on humans for reproduction, as a result of millennia of selective breeding. Wild silk moths (other species of ''Bombyx'') are not as commercially viable in the production of silk. Sericulture, the practice of breeding silkworms for the production of raw silk, has been under way for at least 5,000 years in China, whence it spread to India, Korea, Nepal, Japan, and the West. The domestic silk moth was domesticated from the wild silk moth '' Bombyx mandarina'', which has a range from northern India to northern China, Korea, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pébrine
Pébrine, or "pepper disease," is a disease of silkworms, which is caused by protozoan microsporidian parasites, mainly '' Nosema bombycis'' and, to a lesser extent, '' Vairimorpha'', '' Pleistophora'' and '' Thelohania'' species. The parasites infect eggs and are therefore transmitted to the next generation. The silkworm larvae infected by pébrine are usually covered in brown dots and are unable to spin silkworm thread. Antoine Béchamp was the first one to recognize the cause of this disease when a plague of the disease spread across France. ''Nosema bombycis'' is a microsporidium that kills all of the silkworms hatched from infected eggs and comes from the food that silkworms eat. If silkworms acquire this microsporidium in their larval stage, there are no visible signs; however, mother moths will pass the microsporidium onto the eggs, and all of the worms hatching from the infected eggs will die in their larval stage. Therefore, it is extremely important to rule out all eggs ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hot Spring
A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow bodies of magma (molten rock) or by circulation through faults to hot rock deep in the Earth's crust. In either case, the ultimate source of the heat is radioactive decay of naturally occurring radioactive elements in the Earth's mantle, the layer beneath the crust. Hot spring water often contains large amounts of dissolved minerals. The chemistry of hot springs ranges from acid sulfate springs with a pH as low as 0.8, to alkaline chloride springs saturated with silica, to bicarbonate springs saturated with carbon dioxide and carbonate minerals. Some springs also contain abundant dissolved iron. The minerals brought to the surface in hot springs often feed communities of extremophiles, microorganisms adapted to extreme conditions, and it is possible that life on Earth ha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ronciglione
Ronciglione (locally ) is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Viterbo, Lazio (central Italy), about from Viterbo. The city is located in the Cimini mountains, over two tuff scarps, on the SE slope of the former volcano crater now housing the Lake Vico. The city's economy is based largely on agriculture, with production of nuts, chestnuts and wine. History The most ancient document mentioning Ronciglione dates to 1103. A historian from the 16th century Orvieto set its foundation around 1045, due to the Prefetti of Vico. Later it was a possession of the Anguillara, a Guelph family of Rome. Pope Paul II conquered it to the Papal States in 1465. In 1526 Ronciglione became a possession of the Farnese, and lived its period of greatest splendour: its industries included manufacturing of copper, iron, paper, weapons and others. Ended in 1649 the Farnese seignory and bought back by Pope Innocent X, in 1728 it received the status of city by Pope Benedict XIII. The Roncigl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Latina, Lazio
Latina () is the capital of the province of Latina in the Lazio region, in central Italy. , the city has 126,612 inhabitants and is the second-largest city of the region, after the national capital Rome. It was founded in 1932 under the fascist administration, as Littoria, when the area surrounding it which had been a swamp since antiquity was drained. History Although the area was first settled by the Latins, the modern city was founded by Benito Mussolini on 30 June 1932 as Littoria, named for the fascio littorio. The city was inaugurated on 18 December of the same year. Littoria was populated with settlers coming mainly from Friuli and Veneto, who formed the so-called Venetian- Pontine community (today surviving only in some peripheral boroughs). The edifices and the monuments, mainly in rationalist style, were designed by famous architects and artists such as Marcello Piacentini, Angiolo Mazzoni and Duilio Cambellotti. In 1934 it became a provincial capital and, afte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sermoneta
Sermoneta is a hill town and ''comune'' in the province of Latina (Lazio), central Italy. It is a walled hill town, with a 13th-century Romanesque cathedral called Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta and a massive castle, built by the Caetani family. The Cistercian Valvisciolo Abbey is located nearby. The churches of San Giuseppe (mainly 16th century) and San Michele (mainly 12th century) still stand. In the 13th-16th centuries, it was home to a flourishing Jewish community. Sermoneta is the hometown of the humanist Aldo Manuzio and eighteenth-century painter Antonio Cavallucci. Scenes of the 2007 film ''Silk'' featuring Keira Knightley were filmed in Sermoneta. The 2015 short film ''Italian Miracle'' was filmed in the town. In 1978, an episode of Return of the Saint was filmed there: the town was known as Santa Maria. Notable residents * Girolamo Siciolante Girolamo is an Italian variant of the name Hieronymus. Its English equivalent is Jerome. It may ref ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sakata, Yamagata
is a city located in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 106,244 in 39,320 households, and a population density of 180 people per km2. The total area of the city is . History The area of present-day Sakata was the location of the provincial capital of ancient Dewa Province, although the precise location has yet to be discovered by archaeologists. A port at the mouth of the Mogami River is known to have existed since the Kamakura period. Although silting rendered it less important in the Muromachi period, the area developed as a major center for the coastal trade during the Edo period. By the early Meiji period, the Honma clan, a local merchant clan, dominated trade and emerged as the largest landholder in Japan. Traces of their powerful influence on Sakata City can still be seen across the city. This includes the Honma Museum and The Honma Gardens located in the downtown area. With the establishment of the modern municipalities system after ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ScreenDaily
''Screen International'' is a British film magazine covering the international film business. It is published by Media Business Insight, a British B2B media company. The magazine is primarily aimed at those involved in the global film business. The magazine in its current form was founded in 1975, and its website, ''Screendaily.com'', was added in 2001. ''Screen International'' also produces daily publications at film festivals and markets in Berlin, Germany; Cannes, France; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; the American Film Market in Santa Monica, California; and Hong Kong. History ''Screen International'' traces its history back to 1889 with the publication of ''Optical Magic Lantern and Photographic Enlarger''. At the turn of the 20th century, the name changed to ''Cinematographic Journal'' and in 1907 it was renamed '' Kinematograph and Lantern Weekly''. Kinematograph Weekly ''Kinematograph and Lantern Weekly'' contained trade news, advertisements, reviews, exhibition advice, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Silk (novel)
''Silk'' ( it, Seta) is a 1996 novel by the Italian writer Alessandro Baricco. It was translated into English in 1997 by Guido Waldman. A new English translation by Ann Goldstein was published in 2006. Plot The extraordinary novel tells the story of a French silkworm merchant-turned-smuggler named Hervé Joncour in 19th century France who travels to Japan for his town's supply of silkworms after a disease wipes out their African supply. His first trip to Japan takes place in the Bakumatsu period, when Japan was still largely closed to foreigners. During his stay in Japan, he becomes obsessed with the concubine of a local baron. His trade in Japan and his personal relationship with the concubine are both strained by the internal political turmoil and growing anti-Western sentiment in Japan that followed the arrival of Matthew C. Perry in Edo Bay. Adaptations ''Silk'' has been adapted for stage and film: * A theater adaptation was made in 2005 by Mary Zimmerman *''Silk'', a 20 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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