Memoirs of a Geisha

The Orient in delicate brushstrokes

Narrator (Old Sayuri): The heart dies a slow death, shedding each hope like leaves. Until one day there are none.

Despite this grim voiceover, the film is essentially a picturesque and beautiful, if overly long love story.

Having lived in Asia for 4 years, and having visited Osaka more than once, I was very interested to see Geisha. It is a beautiful movie, and I was not disappointed. You can see from the very first scene that you’re in for a quality treat, full of deft touches.

Any movie that starts with a scene of the sea, its deeply brooding waves rising moodily towards a dark beach has got to work. The Asian actress who plays the young wannabe Geisha Suzuka Ohgo, does an excellent job. She’s a pretty young thing, and she captures one’s heart right off the bat. Of course, from the moment you see her, you can’t wait to see her in full geisha bloom, and Ziyi Zhang (the Chinese actress from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) does not disappoint. She becomes a Geisha but only under the expert tutelage of her (Crouching Tiger rival resurrected) mentor, Michelle Yoeh.

So what is a Geisha?

Mameha: [in voiceover] Remember, Chiyo, geisha are not courtesans. And we are not wives. We sell our skills, not our bodies. We create another secret world, a place only of beauty. The very word "geisha" means artist and to be a geisha is to be judged as a moving work of art.

Interestingly, Japan is unrecognizable in this film. My girlfriend asked me if I missed the Orient, and I have to say, I hardly saw anything that reminded me of the current day Japan. This is because the ugly Japan – the overcrowding, the pollution, the dingy cement skyscrapers and busy neon chaos are gone, and in their place is traditional Japan. It’s temples, forests, pristine rivers and beautiful cliffs and beaches. Instead of glass and plastic we see plenty of woody, traditional structures, Japanese lamps and some of the original and, if I may say, lovely architecture. This film is full of picturesque sweeps, such as the memorable shot of the young Geisha to be running along a passageway made entirely of red wooden poles.

Unfortunately, Japan is even less recognizable because the filmmaker chose to tell a Japanese story using established Chinese actors. Although I personally enjoy Yeoh and Zhang, I can’t help, even as a foreigner, seeing it as a slap in the face of Japanese culture. Why? Because the Japanese and Chinese aren’t interchangeable, neither is their culture or history. It’s as credible, realistic and digestible as American black actors taking South African roles. Maybe international audiences get a basic idea, but a basic idea is a humble offering. When making movies, being genuine and reaching for the stars ought to be a director’s minimum mission.

At times the sweeps are perfect, and the whole film seems to be a a work of perfection. It comes close, but it isn’t. The actresses are beautiful and do a good job, but are often unintelligible. Ziyi was at the Academy ASwards, and presented in English, and struggled. Being pretty and delightful is not an excuse for being unable to speak properly. It’s too bad Ziyi didn’t sign up for just another semester of English pronunciation classes. Soon though, I’m sure her English will be as good as Yeoh’s, and then we might be able to look forward to a lot more Ziyi.

Mameha: [Explaining sex to Sayuri] Every once in a while, a man's "eel" likes to visit a woman's..."cave."

This is one of those films that you either like or dislike a lot. It’s tastefully done, and filmed with intelligence and sensitivity. It’s not erotic, but then, if you know the Asians, they are more conservative than we are. Geisha means ‘artist’, and this film aims to be a work of art. It is, but it’s an artwork that’s at least 30 minutes too long. That said, I have a feeling we are going to see a lot more films of the Orient, and if this film is anything to go by, we have a lot of untapped exotic beauty to look forward to, both from the Orient, and out of Africa. My girlfriend and I both enjoyed it, because above all, it’s a human story. The Asians know how to suffer, but they also know how to hold onto something, like love, and hope.

Narrator (Old Sayuri): You cannot say to the sun, "More sun." Or to the rain, "Less rain." To a man, geisha can only be half a wife. We are the wives of nightfall. And yet, to learn kindness after so much unkindness, to understand that a little girl with more courage than she knew, would find her prayers were answered, can that not be called happiness? After all these are not the memoirs of an empress, nor of a queen. These are memoirs of another kind.

Quotes from www.imdb.com