Review of Memoirs of a Geisha (2005) by David P — 25 Nov 2010

I first saw this film back in the summer of 2007 and I have seen it 6 times (as of writing this review). Then when I first came onto this site, I saw the score from critics; 35% what? This film is much better then that! Then a few days ago I discovered that this is from Rob Marshall, the director of Chicago and after seeing that a few days ago, I decided to re-watch this film. Its still as good if not better then I remember.

Memoirs of a Geisha tells the story of Chiyo, who at the start is taken from her family and sold to Geisha house, to be trained as a Geisha. Unfortantly a series of events prevent her from training further (that is mainly due to this bitch Geisha named Hatsumomo). A few years past and now she is a young woman; one day a Geisha named Mameha decides to re-train her as a Geisha to repay the debt she ows her. So the first 1 hour and 30 mins of the film is her jorney to train as a Geisha, this results in her becoming famous and well known through out Japan and her virginaty is sold for a massive price. The story at least to me is very intresting and I see it as a character study for Chiyo. Character development is very scarce at the start, but about somewhere in the middle the characters start to florish and themes of jelousy, humanity and for Chiyo she wants to "live a life that is mine". If you wondering what a Geisha is, they are female entertainings, they acompany male clients and sell there art not their bodies. Just think of them as artsy prostitutes, only they have more self respect. Anyway they plot is intresting, the characters are like-able and some of them are very complex.

Before I go into the acting, the casting caused some controversy because most of the cast are Chinese playing Japanese. Never-the-less the performances are still great but not outstanding from the actors. Zhang Ziyi (from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Hero) plays Chiyo, this isn't her best performance, but its still above average and she is very beliveble in her role, she doesn't display much emotion, but she does during the films most intence scenes. Michelle Yeoh (who was also in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) plays Chiyo's mentor in Geisha hood, Mameha. Not her best performance either but she is still passable and not cringe worthy or anything. The actor (or actress I should say) who does the best performance is Gong Li who plays Hatsumomo, she is a crule Geisha and Jelousy takes over her during the film which results in a big downfall to Geisha hood. The acting shouldn't really bother you, it is great though even if it's not up to the standards of what they have previously done.

Now for the best part, the visual beauty of this film is amazing. This is mainly due to the Oscar winning cinematography which perfectly captures every motion and visual flare that the film throws at us, the weather seemes like a character to me; the rain, the snow, the wind and the sun all create a visual treat which shouldn't be missed. In fact I think my main reason for liking this film is the visual style and the out of this world cinemotgraphy. The script a dialogue I have a few problems with though, it seems like so director Rob Marshall can sell this to a wider audience is to make the dialogue english, instead of Japanese which I think would of worked better; the english just seems abit out of place because of the lavish production design. I do think though that if the visuals won't this impressive, the film would of been quite boring, thankfully though this film is worth seeing just for the breathtaking cinematography and visuals.

Overall; I don't a give a shit what the critics say about Memoirs of a Geisha, this film is a visual stunner and it should be seen just for that reason. The story is also great it moves the film from one visual to the next and even though at times it feels like a melodrama I still love this film.

8.6/10.

BBFC rating: 12A - For moderate sex and emtional intensity.