Memoirs of a Geisha
2005 Directed by Rob Marshall
Synopsis
My world is as forbidden as it is fragile; without its mysteries, it cannot survive.
Based on the internationally acclaimed novel by Arthur Golden, Memoirs of a Geisha is a sweeping romantic epic set in a mysterious and exotic world that still casts a potent spell today. The story begins in the years before WWII when a penniless Japanese child is torn from her family to work as a maid in a geisha house.
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Based on the controversial novel of the same name, Memoirs of a Geisha is an equally controversial film. It is about a nine-year old Chiyo, who after being sold by her father to a Geisha house desperately attempts to cling onto the stringent demarcation of society.
Aesthetically the film is beautiful (The cinematography is exceptional as is the costumes the characters wear) and each of the characters are characterised by their diversity and contrasting personalities. Ziyi Zhang (An older Chiyo) is simple and her innocent and angelic looks are taken advantage of to the fullest possible extent. Essentially she is the Geisha to which the story is being told by (as you will notice, a voice over parallels the film…
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"You cannot say to the sun, more sun, or to the rain, less rain"
Even after having seen this multiple times it is still just as beautiful. I have talked about the amazing acting, lovely plot, incredible score, and stunning cinematography before in previous reviews.
To reiterate a bit, Ziyi Zhang is absolutely incredible. Her acting was well done, and she is so stunning. She plays the young Chiyo, who after being sold to an Geisha house becomes the famous geisha, Sayuri. Along with her so many of the characters were strong and developed the plot further.
The music and score by John Williams captures the culture and beauty of this story so incredibly well.
It is also lovely to…
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“Memoirs of a Geisha”, a novel written by Arthur Golden, possesses its own controversy. To my knowledge, this masterpiece, no matter how beautiful and remarkably clever, is considered misleading simply because it is written by a Westerner in a somewhat inaccurate way that most readers (especially fellow Westerners) thought whatever written is historical facts. They (the Japanese) claimed that Golden created a false stereotype about Japanese lifestyle and culture. Whatever it is they are arguing about, let’s just stay away from that area; instead, let us examine the beauty of the film that is based on the controversial book. The way I see it, Rob Marshall succeeded in visualizing the interesting, beautiful and an in-depth look at the Japanese culture,…
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I must say I think it was a very faithful adaptation to the book. Perhaps because of that reading, I did not find as dull as other reviewers on here. Visually, it was very pretty, but this story is about social class, structure with a lite touch on love. It's about a geisha, not a girlfriend. I liked it a lot, but that was me. I found all the actors to be fantastic and very bit of it captivating.
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"Female movie". It is interesting that female lead performer Zhang Ziyi recently was accused roughly the same as what she did in the movie to achieve desired roles.
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Bursting open over black with a doozy of a trailer-made line ("A story like mine is never meant to be told") and closing just nearly speaking its title, template prestige whore Memoirs of a Geisha is pretty high on its overtly sympathetic broadening of culture that seems cause to exclude any scene that isn't expressly defining What It Really Means To Be a Geisha. Staged (rather than directed, that is) in every way - note perfect sets, too symmetrically busy crowd scenes, choreographed breathing - it's practically Kyoto (sans the songs of course); And not being a musical is probably the least of its disconnect with communication: See famous quote about "doing a martial-arts movie in English [and how it]…
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the music in this is so wonderful.. it's beautifully composed, arranged and performed.. and goes beyond assisting in the story telling
..it may be that the music is my favorite part of this film..
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Meh.
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She's not even Japanese
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This is really a tough one because on the one hand, "Memoirs Of A Geisha" is gorgeous. Every facet of the production is stunning and to simply observe, the film is beautiful. On the other hand it seems to present a history of the geisha that is undoubtedly far from the truth and even tinted with nostalgia (which doesn't sit right at all). Ultimately the film is neither here nor there but John Williams definitely should have won the Oscar that year.
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Based on the controversial novel of the same name, Memoirs of a Geisha is an equally controversial film. It is about a nine-year old Chiyo, who after being sold by her father to a Geisha house desperately attempts to cling onto the stringent demarcation of society.
Aesthetically the film is beautiful (The cinematography is exceptional as is the costumes the characters wear) and each of the characters are characterised by their diversity and contrasting personalities. Ziyi Zhang (An older Chiyo) is simple and her innocent and angelic looks are taken advantage of to the fullest possible extent. Essentially she is the Geisha to which the story is being told by (as you will notice, a voice over parallels the film…
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Absolutely beautiful, honestly blown away.
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"You cannot say to the sun, more sun, or to the rain, less rain"
Even after having seen this multiple times it is still just as beautiful. I have talked about the amazing acting, lovely plot, incredible score, and stunning cinematography before in previous reviews.
To reiterate a bit, Ziyi Zhang is absolutely incredible. Her acting was well done, and she is so stunning. She plays the young Chiyo, who after being sold to an Geisha house becomes the famous geisha, Sayuri. Along with her so many of the characters were strong and developed the plot further.
The music and score by John Williams captures the culture and beauty of this story so incredibly well.
It is also lovely to…
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Highly classic. Water eyed lead character's exceptionally complex but classic story being a Geisha. Good narration of original story.
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"Female movie". It is interesting that female lead performer Zhang Ziyi recently was accused roughly the same as what she did in the movie to achieve desired roles.