Memoirs of a Geisha (2005)

Adaptations seem to be "the thing" in Hollywood right now. I guess they always have been, but without many original ideas these days, it just seems quite overwhelming. Most of the time, something is definitely lost in the translation and the film rarely does it's book/comic/theater couterpart justice. Fortunately, Memoirs of a Geisha is a perfect transition from book to film. Unfortunately, the book that this film is adapted from was far from perfect. If you're not familiar with the term, a Geisha was a woman who was paid for the pleasure of her company, rather than being paid for her body. They knew much of art and dance, and performed minor tasks like pouring sake and taking part in petty conversations. They did sleep with their clients, but rarely. Personally, I didn't find this to be that interesting. The film likened a Geisha to a Samurai, which just didn't fly with me. Our protagonist here is striving to become a Geisha to win the heart of a man. It's Pretty Woman meets Cinderella, sort of.

I found, walking into this film, that the crowd was overwhelmingly composed of couples. I was actually surprised that most people would even have gathered that this film was a love story, considering the terrible job that the trailer did to advertise that aspect of the film.

As a young girl, Sayuri (Ziyi Zhang) is taken from her home in the hopes she will become a Geisha. Along the way, she falls for a man of high authority, the Chairman(Ken Watanabe), and decides to focus all of her effort towards being close to him. The story that unfolds is less than romantic, as two young girls are dragged from their beds and thrown into the wagon of a man delivering them as goods. This gives the film a rather cold feeling because you haven't had time to connect with any of the characters. This scene is intended to be dramatic, but falls flat on its face. There's nothing to awe at; we're meant to be depressed over something that was presumed to have been common place in this time and place. We're being thrown into a world we know nothing about, and we're expected to somehow connect to any one of these characters? I didn't feel I was being told a story as much I was witness to a kidnapping and the attempts to escape fate. When we finally do get our bearings, we're thrown yet again. Suddenly, we're "happy" that she was kidnapped and enslaved, nevermind the fact that she aspires to become something that's to blame for the upheaval of her world. The story continues this way as it clunks from year to year, era to era. After a while, I no longer cared what this character wanted; I just cared about the fact that there was still an hour left in this film.

It's dull, it drags, and the only entertainment value I found in the film were things that weren't directly related to the story, such as a beautiful dance performed by Sayuri, a sumo-wrestling match that takes place in the background, and beatiful foliage and set design. I spent more time thinking of things to do in Japan than I did investing myself in the story.

As I stated in my introduction, the source material for this film is a bit lacking. The book had me bored to tears, so much so that I refused to finish it. So why Robin Swicord thought he could enhance on something with so little to work with was beyond me. The dialouge itself was rather dull, and the story had a few flaws in the plot development that REALLY brought the film down. When Sayuri first meets the Chairman, she goes from wanting to run away and never come back to suddenly embracing a future she wanted nothing to do with. It's a weak plot twist; I didn't buy it in the book, and I don't buy it here.

While I loved Ziyi Zhang in House of Flying Daggers and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, I felt her performance here was rather lackluster. She seems better-suited for films with levels of fantasy and is out of her element here. Another thing that seems to hurt her here is that, while she's meant to be the most beautiful Geisha there has ever been, her female castmates are more attractive. Ken Watanabe was just not believable at all as the charming Chairman. I honestly felt he came off rather creepy when he approaches Sayuri for the first time. Toward the end of the film he was more likeable, but the image of that "creepy old man" was burned into my mind. I found that the actor I enjoyed the most was Koji Yakusho. His portrayal of Nobu, a harsh business man with no time for love, really worked for me and he proved to be the most interesting member of the cast. Michelle Yeoh and Li Gong did quite well as the hot and cold of Sayuri's life, where Yeoh's character gave her solace while Gong's character brought her turmoil. The rest of the supporting cast, while having their moments, were nothing more than shoes for a film that seemed to be dragging it's feet.

The cinematography had a few spots of annoyance, mainly with the ever-apparent shot of Sayuri's impossibly blue eyes. However, along with the beautiful sets, the amazing costumes were something I did enjoy. They've done an incredible job with the lighting and the colors they used--feeling warm and cozy in the right places and cold and bleak in others. The music brings a great aspect to the film as well, creating a neat little pocket for the scenery to fall into, as well as guiding us through different moods of the film. The only shots that really bothered me, though, were those of Sayuri's eyes over and over and over. It seemed like Rob Marshall wasn't sure we'd get it the first time, so he decided to make sure we got the message by sending it to us another thirty times. A motif is fine, but don't over do it.

Final

While I didn't like this film much, there are a few things to go home happy about. Even with a script as bland as this, the sets are very well done, the costume design is really beautiful, and there are several actors who do prove their worth. Is it worth the $10? Not really. However, I will admit wholeheartedly that I may have gone in a bit biased after not enjoying the book. The couples I went with did enjoy it, so perhaps as a date film, it works, but it's nothing to write home about. Geisha depends far too much on its source material, and that is its failing.