SILKWOOD. Directed by Mike Nichols; written by Nora Ephron and Alice Arlen; produced by Mike Nichols and Michael Hausman for 20th Century Fox. Starring Meryl Streep, Kurt Russell and Cher. Rated R (subject matter and language).
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"Harnessing the atom" has been the ultimate Pandora's box for humankind, even if you just look at its peaceful uses. The promise I remember hearing as a kid was that it was a source of cheap, unlimited energy—luxury for everyone.
Instead the reality has been cost overruns through the roof and fear of meltdowns through the floor.
Silkwood doesn't offer any easy answers to the larger questions surrounding nuclear energy. It is, rather, a personal movie about one woman's tragic experiences.
Sobering, frightening, and extremely well-made, it will make you think about the issues. But only after you have mourned for the people.
Karen SIlkwood (Streep) was a real person. And Silkwood shows her as she probably really was—a very unlikely heroine.
She becomes an activist more out of self-defense than idealism. She is a "trained technician" at a plant that makes components for nuclear power plants. A casual attitude—to which she contributes at first—toward the dangers of the work is common.
Then Karen has some contamination experiences, and sees what appears to be a coverup of shoddy workmanship. And once she starts to document abuses, she finds them everywhere.
Silkwood is fair, and is not on a "no-nukes" tirade. The carelessness and abuses at the plant speak for themselves. But Karen as a crusader is certainly no saint. The focus is on her, not on the faults of Kerr-McGee, her employer.
It's hard to say anything new about Streep, but she is truly brilliant in Silkwood. The role is a different one for her. Karen is brassy, rude and stubborn. Streep's other performances have been wonderful, but five minutes into Silkwood, you'll forget she's ever played anyone else.
This movie would be worth seeing for Streep's performance alone. But Russell and Cher, as Karen's roommates Drew and Dolly, are excellent as well.
Russell creates a wonderfully appealing character. And anyone who thinks of Cher as a clothes horse will be shocked out of their seats by Dolly. She and Karen have a real, complex relationship that Cher and Streep portray in all its richness and ambiguity.
Silkwood is an important movie and also a very, very good one. But it is difficult to watch.
There is a fair amount of humor in the dialogue, especially early on. People working with plutonium, it seems, like a joke on the job as well as anyone else.But overall, the tone is depressing and hopeless.
Silkwood is being released at this time of year to qualify for the Oscars, not to cash in on the recent holiday spirit. And anyone who wants to see one movie that should get at least several nominations shouldn't miss it.
January 4, 1984