Publisher's Synopsis
Based on the 1996 Alessandro Baricco novel of the same name, this is the story of a married silkworm smuggler, Herve Joncour (Michael Pitt), in 19th Century France who, while travelling to Japan to collect his clandestine cargo, glimpses a beautiful, mysterious woman, the concubine of a local baron, with whom he becomes obsessed. Although they share no common language, they communicate through letters until the onset of war. But even the war's intervention fails to put a stop to their unrequited love, and Herve's wife, Helene (Keira Knightley), begins to suspect something is going on.
