"That's a nice-a donut."
Sunday, May 07, 2006
Memoirs of a Geisha (2005)
Add Memoirs of a Geisha to the list of movies where the quality of how it looks doesn't match the quality of the story. It's beautiful looking, there's no doubt about that, but it's also a very uneven and surprisingly uninteresting tale. From Oscar-nominated director Rob Marshall (of Chicago), it is adapted from the popular novel by Arthur Golden and chronicles the life of a young girl in Japan and her subsequent rise to become one of the most desired geishas ever.
Young Chiyo is taken from her desolate fishing village and sold into a geisha house at nine years old. She is subjected to mistreatment and abuse by the owner of the house, as well as by a geisha named Hatsumomo (Li Gong) who recognizes Chiyo's (Ziyi Zhang) potential and becomes combative. However she eventually captures the eye of Mameha (Michelle Yeoh), one of Hatsumomo's rivals, who takes Chiyo under her wing and teaches her how to become a skilled geisha. Chiyo is renamed Sayuri as she ascends into the geishahood and bidding soon begins to take her most valuable prize (her virginity). Soon after, Japan enters the war and Sayuri must deal with a radically different lifestyle.
In what should have been a fascinating movie, the story ends up being a bit of a bore, no thanks in part to some severe pacing issues and unusual choices of what scenes to concentrate on. For instance, there is an inexplicable jump from soon after she becomes a full geisha to the very different final act. Not nearly enough time is spent on her time as a geisha, while way too much time is spent on miserable post-war life. That may also be true in the book (I haven't read it), but the shift is so abrupt that it feels as if entire scenes are missing. An opportunity is missed to showcase how Sayuri dealt with the more sophisticated and prominent lifestyle that her success afforded her. I wanted to see more of things like the all-too-brief killer scene where Mameha tells her that "you cannot call yourself a true geisha until you can stop a man in his tracks with a single look." With just a quick look and a smile she then makes a man fall off his bike and crash.
The movie does look very nice though. The art and set direction is absolutely fantastic, with beautiful landscapes and intricately woven cityscapes and interior sets, not to mention the exquisite costume design. The acting is also commendable.
Sayuri's key moment comes early on after she is sold into the servanthood as a young girl - she meets the Chairman (Ken Watanabe), a noble gentleman who treats her with respect - something that was missing from her dealings with other people. She falls for him and vows to dedicate her life to becoming a better geisha in order to attract him. Unfortunately, by the end, I didn't even care what the end result of their relationship was. Those who have read and enjoyed the novel may have a better time.
The Verdict: C.
Michael Bentley 3:17 PM
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