Chiyo quickly becomes best friends with Pumpkin ( Youki Kudoh), a girl about her age, and they are raised by the house under a strict discipline that trains them for a lifetime of flattering wealthy men. The house is run by Mother (Kaori Momoi), and its ruling geisha is Hatsumomo (Gong Li). The older girl, although hardly old enough for sex, is sold directly into prostitution, while the 9-year-old Chiyo (Suzuka Ohgo) is sold to a geisha house where she will be an unpaid servant until it is determined if she is elegant enough for the house's clientele. That's made clear at the outset, circa 1929, when a widowed fisherman sells his daughters on the human market in Kyoto.
Summary of memories of a geisha free#
There isn't the faintest suggestion of free will, but then free will has never played much of a role in the world of a geisha. They do wonders with their characters, who are trapped in a formula fiction but suggest possibilities they cannot explore. Even in Japan, Zhang and Li outgross any Japanese actress.
Summary of memories of a geisha movie#
The movie was cast partly on the basis of star power: Ziyi Zhang, Gong Li and Michelle Yeoh are not only great beauties and gifted actresses, but box office dynamite. This casting been attacked as ethnically incorrect, but consider that the film was made by a Japanese-owned company the intent was not to discriminate against Japanese, but in favor of the box office. I am not disturbed in the least that the three leading Japanese characters in the film are played by women of Chinese descent. The women are beauties, their world swims in silks and tapestries, smoke and mirrors, and the mysteries of hair when it is up vs. On the level of voluptuous visual beauty, it works if you simply regard it. This is one of the best-looking movies in some time, deserving comparison with " Raise the Red Lantern" (in more ways than one). I could list some Japanese films illustrating this, but the last thing the audience for "Memoirs of a Geisha" wants to see is a more truthful film with less gorgeous women and shabbier production values. Still, I object to the movie not on sociological grounds but because I suspect a real geisha house floated on currents deeper and more subtle than the broad melodrama on display here.
But if this movie had been set in the West, it would be perceived as about children sold into prostitution, and that is not nearly as wonderful as "being raised as a geisha." Certainly the traditions of the geisha house are culturally fascinating in their own right. It might be that this is one of those books that works only on the page, but my money's on the Hollywood treatment.Is the transaction elevated if there is very little sex, a lot of cash, and the prostitute gets hardly any of either? Hard to say. This is Japanese culture filtered through Western eyes that pretends to investigate the culture and the customs, but instead glamorises the tough discipline and sacrifices geishas must endure for their art and it does not delve into what life was really like for these women.
But this is also due to a lack of authenticity. It's too passive and it's almost impossible to feel any pity for her situation. As a result, Zhang's performance is particularly misplaced. The screenplay, by Robin Swicord ( Little Women ) is far too awkward, the dialogue is hackneyed and Zhang Ziyi and Gong Li both struggle with their English.
Unfortunately, Memoirs Of A Geisha is an arduous experience, especially when you're faced with two hours of unsteady acting and an unconvincing, melodramatic plot. But spectacular production design can only hold your attention for so long. There's beautiful woman, gorgeous costumes and cherry blossoms aplenty. Marshall's film is sumptuous and the attention to detail, impressive.
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