Memoirs of a Geisha

The film relies heavily on the cinemetography as much as the dialogue in order to continue the plot, and there are some really good "film" moments in this. Not as self-absorbed as I thought it would be, but it still has that "grand scale" feel like Empire of the Sun or something of the same line that makes it more grandiose than comfortable. To me, it feels slightly overdone.

Of the good moments that I was talking about - the way in which the owner of the "house" checked the geisha to see if she had been with a man. Without words, the scene conveyed a more complete sense of how their bodies truly were not their own, but instead were the property of someone else.

Another memorable scene: the way in which the geisha caught the interest of the ex-military man who preferred sports to women. Demonstrating the true nature of what it means to be "geisha" - that is, to use conversation to entrance, she adeptly countered his argument and mixed both sports and dance metaphor, thus to build a bridge between what he liked and what he thought he did not like. In this short scene, she entrances him by letting him know that she can speak his "language" as well as her own.

And although I shouldn't have been I was suprised to find out that the action was taking place during WWII, and the moment that the war invaded their lives was when the planes suddenly flew overhead - the world turns upside down and the way of the geisha (in this sense - a metaphor for Japanese culture) is suddenly gone. What was truly intriguing about this scene is that we get a sense that the moneyed elite (males) in this town had been part of the Japanese war machine, as they make reference to their factory, and although not stated specifically, it most likely (to provide that amount of wealth in that time) probably had built armaments.

Very good movie. As a sidenote my wife has just finished the book and claims without shame that the movie was far better than the book, which apparently is dull, lifeless, plodding, and nothing more than completely boring.

Dang. Think I'll stick with the film.


VG