Review of Memoirs of a Geisha (2005) by Kman5473 — 29 Jul 2018

Beautifully shot, wonderful art and set direction, great costumes, and fairly great performances by the actors--all of these elements, however, do not makeup for a half-finished script that needs some minor but effective changes.

Everything setup in the first two thirds of the film were interesting, but really did not add up to the rushed 3rd act of the film (everything during and after WWII). There's this gradual tension building and building throughout the first half of the film between Chiyo and Hatsumomo that is never really fully explored, explained, or resolved.

It's a crying shame because Hatsumomo is setup to be a great antagonist, constantly presenting friction against the pure-hearted and trusting, though naive, Chiyo. The sexual tension between Chairman and Chiyo feels alright, but only because of the actors who worked so hard to build their on-screen chemistry.

How it's actually conducted throughout the film feels a bit forced, unrealistic, and has an unsatisfying but positive resolution. Chairman is someone that Chiyo has projected all of her unfulfilled desires to be loved and happy onto.

Yes, he is kind, but it absolutely feels more like a childhood crush that never got a reality check than a romance that is truly worth fighting and cheering for. Truly, he was only ever kind to Chiyo once in her life--and the movie says "Yes, that's enough for her to be completely in love with him.

" Give me a break. The rules of this film are far too fantastical to even be relatable. The tone seems insecure, in that the people who made this film could not decide if they wanted to make a fairy tale love story set to the backdrop of pre- and post-WWII Japan, or a hard-hitting historical fiction.