Review of Pavilion of Women (2001) by Ashley T — 26 Dec 2012

Okay, we've all seen Memoirs of a Geisha. 85 million dollar budget, mixed cast from several different backgrounds, made for American audiences - alright, this seems familiar. Now totally wipe that out of your head before you watch this movie.

With roughly a 5 million dollar budget in comparison, this movie had far less flexibility in picking their supporting cast to expect the acting to not be a little over-exaggerated or off kilter at times.

From beginning to end, the movie fluctuates between dramatic, personal scenes meant to pull you into the moment and tug at your thinker, sporting genuine and heart-felt acting by Willem Dafoe, Yan Luo, Yi Ding, and John Cho, and then explodes into what may seem sometimes ridiculous or cheesy by some of the lesser known cast.

I have not read the book it was apparently based on, yet the movie had a beautifully tragic plot with all ranges of acting and an interesting look at pre-WWII China. The story is meant to have a more serious, dry tone and if you can look past your 2012 movie expectations and really watch the story unfold, it's definitely a movie worth watching.