{"id":27823,"date":"2012-10-18T12:39:01","date_gmt":"2012-10-18T19:39:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=27823"},"modified":"2020-12-25T11:00:46","modified_gmt":"2020-12-25T18:00:46","slug":"silkwood-1983","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=27823","title":{"rendered":"Silkwood (1983)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;I think you&#8217;d do just about anything to shut down this plant.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Silkwood-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Silkwood-Poster-193x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"193\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-27825\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Silkwood-Poster-193x300.jpg 193w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Silkwood-Poster-82x128.jpg 82w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Silkwood-Poster.jpg 323w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 193px) 100vw, 193px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nA nuclear factory employee named Karen Silkwood (Meryl Streep) is distressed to learn that her company may be engaging in less-than-safe practices &#8212; but as she becomes more active in her local union, she finds herself increasingly isolated from her co-workers, who fear loss of their jobs if the factory shuts down.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Amateur Sleuths<\/li>\n<li>Biopics<\/li>\n<li>Cher Films<\/li>\n<li>Meryl Streep Films<\/li>\n<li>Mike Nichols Films<\/li>\n<li>Nuclear Threat<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nMeryl Streep&#8217;s Oscar-nominated performance firmly grounds this disturbing biopic about labor union activist <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Karen_Silkwood\">Karen Silkwood<\/a>, whose mysterious death in a car accident while on her way to meet with a reporter remains one of the most notorious instances of &#8220;whistle blowers&#8221; meeting an untimely demise. Given that viewers know the outcome of this real-life tragedy in advance, director Mike Nichols (working from a script by Nora Ephron and Alice Arlen) wisely frames his story as both an ethnographic look at Silkwood&#8217;s working-class existence &#8212; she&#8217;s estranged from her kids, living with her boyfriend (Kurt Russell) and lesbian friend (Cher) &#8212; and as an unsolved mystery story (is someone contaminating Silkwood on purpose?). Streep, naturally, is phenomenal in the title role, providing a nuanced portrayal of a woman who&#8217;s both easy to like (she&#8217;s amiable and free-spirited) and easy to hate (she&#8217;s mildly manipulative and not easily deterred). What&#8217;s most fascinating about her story &#8212; other than seeing how close-to-the-edge she and her co-workers live on a daily basis, given the dangerous work they&#8217;re doing &#8212; is watching Silkwood&#8217;s consciousness slowly growing, as she uncovers more and more instances of suspiciously neglectful and\/or deceitful behavior on the part of her employers. The &#8220;scrub down&#8221; showers &#8212; shown being given to Silkwood herself and to a terrified co-worker (stage actress Sudie Bond) &#8212; remain among the most horrifying scenes in non-horror cinema. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Note:<\/strong> Click <a href=\"http:\/\/www.people.com\/people\/archive\/article\/0,,20087094,00.html\">here<\/a> to read a follow-up story in <em>People Magazine<\/em> about the various individuals in Silkwood&#8217;s real life.  <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Meryl Streep as Karen Silkwood (nominated as one of the Best Actresses of the Year in Peary&#8217;s <em>Alternate Oscars<\/em>)<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Silkwood-Streep.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Silkwood-Streep.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"624\" height=\"352\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-27827\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Silkwood-Streep.png 624w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Silkwood-Streep-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Silkwood-Streep-300x169.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 624px) 100vw, 624px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Fine supporting performances<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Silkwood-Bond.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Silkwood-Bond.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"624\" height=\"352\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-27824\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Silkwood-Bond.png 624w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Silkwood-Bond-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Silkwood-Bond-300x169.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 624px) 100vw, 624px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>A powerful, often-scary, &#8220;based on real life&#8221; screenplay<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Silkwood-Scary.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Silkwood-Scary.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"624\" height=\"352\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-27826\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Silkwood-Scary.png 624w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Silkwood-Scary-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Silkwood-Scary-300x169.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 624px) 100vw, 624px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, as an all-around good show, and for Streep&#8217;s Oscar-nominated performance. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Good Show<\/li>\n<li>Noteworthy Performance(s)<\/li>\n<li>Oscar Winner or Nominee<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0086312\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1983\/12\/14\/movies\/film-karen-silkwood-s-story.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rogerebert.com\/reviews\/silkwood-1983\">Roger Ebert&#8217;s Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s1026silk.html\">DVD Savant Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/movies.tvguide.com\/silkwood\/review\/117767\">TV Guide Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/90165\/silkwood#articles-reviews?articleId=152689\">TCM Article<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;I think you&#8217;d do just about anything to shut down this plant.&#8221; Synopsis: A nuclear factory employee named Karen Silkwood (Meryl Streep) is distressed to learn that her company may be engaging in less-than-safe practices &#8212; but as she becomes more active in her local union, she finds herself increasingly isolated from her co-workers, who fear loss of their jobs if the factory shuts down. Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Amateur Sleuths Biopics Cher Films Meryl Streep Films Mike Nichols&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=27823\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27823","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27823","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27823"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27823\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59412,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27823\/revisions\/59412"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27823"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}