Silk (Soundtrack)

Ryuichi Sakamoto

Silva Screen Records

The Planet Company (Australia)

Web: http://www.theplanetcompany.com

Ryuichi Sakamoto was born January 17, 1952 in Tokyo, Japan. He attended the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, where he focused his studies on musical composition, world music and the development of electronic forms in music. He formed the Yellow Magic Orchestra to express his interest in electronic music and had a number of major hits include Firecracker and Behind the Mask, many see his work of this period as highly influential on the development of ambient, electronic, techno and later dance and house movements.

After this early techno period, Sakamoto moved more into ambient forms focused on semi classical, ethereal music though still using synthesizers and electronic forms. This has been defined as his post techno period. Yet he never really stopped exploring, he has produced a wide array of albums, continuing today, which move between world music, classical, ambient electronic and soundscapes for films.

He has become most famous for his moody and environmental movie soundtracks including Merry Christmas Mr.Lawrence, the Last Emperor, the Little Buddha and many others.

Silk is quite a beautiful and moving soundscape produced for the movie Silk, which is a film adaptation of Italian author Alessandro Baricco's novel. Michael Pitt stars as Herve Joncour, a Frenchman who lives in a small town that has hit very hard times. A local silkworm magnate (Alfred Molina) stumbles upon a quirky and dangerous solution for his town’s troubles. He enlists Herve to travel to a distant village in Japan to smuggle back a regular supply of rare silkworms. Traveling in disguise, against all odds and experiencing a range of setbacks and difficulties, Herve succeeds in his mission. However on returning home things are not as successful as he hopes. While Herve and his wife Helene have a solid relationship, their inability to produce a child creates an undercurrent of tension between them. This is brought to a head when Herve meets a beautiful concubine (Sei Ashina) during one of his subsequent journeys, sparking a passionate encounter that will haunt him for the rest of his life.

This is a beautiful film with lush cinematography, however many have felt it is too much like a long dream, full of images and colour, but without any great direction or plot. While the film has received mixed reviews, the soundtrack by Sakamoto has been well received as a moving and textured track creating a sense of mood and atmosphere. He uses Joshua Bell, a internationally respected violinist to help creates a superbly meaningful piece of music.

The CD of Silk is available from Silva Screen Records which is distributed in Australia by The Planet Company.