MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA Reviewed by Harvey S. Karten
Columbia Pictures/DreamWorks
Grade: C+
Directed by: Rob Marshall
Written by: Robin Swicord, novel by Arthur Golden
Cast: Zhang Ziyi, Ken Watanabe, Michelle Yeoh, Koji Yakusho,
Kaori Momoi, Youki Kudoh, Gong Li, Kenneth Tsang
Screened at: Review 1, NYC, 11/23/05 The opening words in English come from the narrator (Shizuko
Hoshi), who opinies, "This is a story that should not have been
told." Doubtless some members of the audience would agree.
This is not to say that the book, a best-seller translated into
thirty-two languages, is flawed. "Memoirs of a Geisha," derived from a book with the same title by an American male who picked up enough about Japanese culture to express his vision, is pedantic. We learn something of the inner working of this dying, perhaps already moribund Japanese culture, but the movie, produced by Steven Spielberg, lacks an emotional core that might have transported its theater audience. Director by Rob Marshall, known for helming "Chicago" in 2002
(the movie that won a Best Film award from the prestigious New
York Film Critics Online, "Geisha" is a hybrid. The "Chicago"
aspect comes across in the third and final act, as World War II
has given way to an American occupation of Japan, bringing in
a culture that's as informal and friendly as the Japanese system
is rigid and class-bound. That eastern nation's social protocol is
so tied up with byzantine rules that a fellow from Kyoto might be
in love with a woman for a decade and not consider himself
"permitted" to propose. In "Geisha," this is a tragedy of lost
opportunities between a good man and a woman who from the
age of nine, consciously or otherwise, was in love with the poor
fellow bottled up by what is hopefully an nearly extinct code of
behavior. "Memoirs of a Geisha" look at first like a product destined by the
art-houses, but what gives the pic a potential mainstream
attraction is that except for a brief introduction, everyone speaks
English. That's not all. Almost all scenes are filmed by Dion
Beebe in California, and most lead actors are Chinese.
Perhaps if Marshall insisted on the more authentic style of
unfolding the story in Kyoto with a Japanese cast speaking their
appropriate language, he could have created more emotional
pull. One is tempted to think that the production team figured
that the beauty and talent of Gong Li and Zhang Ziyi would be
more of a draw. The grapevine says that these two Chinese
thesps enjoy a huge fan base in Japan. The story opens in 1929, which finds two sisters who are
sold by their parents to live in Kyoto to serve as servants
to a geisha home. Mother (Kaori Momoi) immediately rejects
one of the girls while accepting the adorable Chiyo (Suzuka
Ohgo). If she plays her cards right, she could become a geisha–a Japanese term that translates as "servant.' While Mother rules the roost, she has to put up with the high-strung Hatsumomo (Gong Li), who at one point is seen by young Chiyo passionately embracing a man to the consternation of Mother, who lays down the law: Geishas are not free to love." Rejected by her parents and sometimes thrashed by the older women in the compound, Chiyo receives her first kindness from a fellow known as the Chairman (Ken Watanabe), who treats her to cherry ices and gives off the happily false vibes that he's a pederast. This is the beginning of the long love, which is unrequited by virtue of the Japanese code. Act Two brings us to the mid-1930s, as young Chiyo metaphors
into a teen who continues working as a lowly servant. Mameha
(Michelle Yeoh), who is only the second adult to treat Chiyo
kindly, becomes her mentor and gains for the lass an
apprenticeship as a geisha. Chiyo, later named Sayuri, is seen
as a competitor by Hatsumomo (Gong Li), a rivalry that will see
the story burst into one of its few moments of melodrama. Among the ideas we learn about geishas is that they are not
hookers (contrary to the views of some Westerners), with one
exception. Sayuri is auctioned off not for marriage or
concubinage but simply to the highest bidder who will take away
her virginity. The money is to go to pay Sayuri's tuition at the
"school." We found out that geisha must not only dance to
entertain the well-to-do male guests but also to be able to juggle
a pair of fans like an entertainer at a three-ring circus. We note as well that some American GI's have the wrong idea of what geishas, and though Sayuri bathes in a tub along with ranking U.S. officers, she does not welcome the physical attention that one colonel is paying her. We also sympathize with the geishas for the footwear that has them walking as on stilts, or like the Chinese women who in Manchu days had to walk three paces behind their husbands. This is a woman's picture, which is not to say that it's a chick-
flick but rather that the men are not given the same study of
character as the lead females. The most moving part of the
film, in fact one of the few restrained images that could bring
tears to audience eyes, occurs when the Chairman and the
geisha proclaim their mutual love, an affection which for
reasons of Japanese convention could not mature into marriage. Rated PG-13. 144 minutes © 2005 by Harvey Karten
harveycritic@cs.com Member: NY Film Critics Online | 
