Based on the novel by Arthur Golden, "Memoirs of a Geisha" is a big-budget exploration in to the world of the Geisha, and tells the story of a young girl named Chiyo who was sold away from her parents and forced in to slavery for a Geisha house. Marshall's adaptation excels both in story and production qualities that are top notch. There is utterly fantastic cinematography by Dion Beebe whose presentation is filled with lush landscapes, and utterly beautiful colorful set pieces that are really a compliment to the eyes of the audience. There were some sequences in "Memoirs" that were just awe-inducing exploring radiant green rolling hills under blue moonlight, and the stark, but beautiful back alleys of Japan looks gorgeous on-screen.

Marshall's direction is gorgeous taking full advantage of the scenery before the lens, and takes every such advantage to expose the fantastic production qualities before us likening his film to a moving painting that's luminescent and pleasing to the eyes. Marshall's productions also sports a truly talented cast of refined actors all of whom give very good performances. Michelle Yeoh gives an excellent performance as Mameha, an older Geisha teaching young Chiyo how to master the art of the Geisha. Though her performance is mostly instrumental as means of pushing the plot forward, Yeoh takes advantage of the performance and makes it her own, while Ziyi Zhang is subtle and gorgeous as Chiyo who is to become the most famous Geisha in Japan.

Zhang's performance is sublime as the conflicted Chiyo who becomes a renowned Geisha (for obvious reasons) and is forced to choose where her loyalties lie in her home while being guided by Mameha to keep on the straight and narrow. "Memoirs" doesn't only chronicle the life of a famous geisha, but also explores her journey through life, and the evolution of her civilization through the first world war. Ken Watanabe has an especially stand out performance as The Chairman, a man who comes across Chiyo as a child and forms a romance for her that transcends time. "Memoirs" is filled with very good performances that keep the film afloat, and kept me watching with baited breath.

"I am a Geisha. I was born in Japan, but I look Chinese, and though I was born and raised in Japan I speak fluent English, and can even narrate my own story." Okay, so that's not how the film begins, but it could have. I'm not one of those people whose hackles were raised because a Chinese person played a Japanese person. Jennifer Lopez
played Selena, Vanessa Williams played a Hispanic woman, Lou Diamond Phillips played Ritchie Valens. But one thing for sure is this: you can't take "Memoirs of a Geisha" too seriously. It's what Hollywood is all about. Who else but Hollywood would have a film centered around Japanese characters and have them speaking fluent English? It's just the
type of vapidity Hollywood is known for. And it's said even the novel had the same sort of routine with foreign characters speaking English. I'm just saying, if you're going to write a book about a foreign country, you should have some scenes in their own language. It's what makes it feel less like fiction, and more like reality.

Maybe the disingenuous sense of reality shown in "Memoirs" is one of the reasons why this was snubbed by the Academy. My theory was that this was an apparent grab for awards, and there's a film like this every year. If the executives wanted to stand out, they should have made the film in the language of the land it takes place in, and then add subtitles. Stop catering to idiot Americans whom have a stigma for subtitles. "Memoirs" feels much too artificial with set pieces that never look genuine, and more like Hollywood back lots, while it rambles on for the first hour without much of an interesting story. The Geisha are a fascinating subject in history and cultures, and there's so much potential for a unique story that could stand out among Hollywood productions, yet it insists on being a mediocre soap opera about women plotting behind each other's backs, and melodramatic romance. All of which are accompanied by often hokey dialogue, and utterly self-congratulatory narration that's really never useful and more unnecessary. The narration too often states the obvious and explores thoughts that can be expressed with better editing. "Memoirs" is sadly a forgettable experience with a plot that evolves with less and less texture.

It's a beautiful film on the surface, with some very good performances by some of the best actresses in the world, and fantastic cinematography paired with excellent production qualities, but underneath the beauty, "Memoirs" is a disingenuous and artificial byproduct of a studio seeking awards and further under-estimating their audiences intelligence, so it's never as interesting, or complex as it should be thus it never really takes advantage of its unique story.

[   Shop   |   Link to Us   |   FAQ   |   Top^   ]
All written reviews material and content are a copyright of Felix Vasquez Jr. and Cinema Crazed.
Content borrowed without written permission will not be permitted.

¤ ¤ ¤