My apologies if there’s another thread about this movie, but I didn’t see one. I’ve been looking forward to the movie; I haven’t read the book, but I’ve heard great things about it, the movie previews looked good, and there seemed to be a lot of good names attached to the project. Imagine my surprise to see that it’s currently got only a stinking 28% on RottenTomatoes.com – rotten indeed! Say it ain’t so!
So – anyone seen it yet?
I haven’t read the book either, but would like to see this film.
Only think I have heard is that a lot of people (especially in Japan) are pissed off the actresses are Chinese and not Japanese. Seems unfair to complain without even having seen the film - if I am not mistaken, the Brits were not thrilled to hear Bridget Jones was going to be played by Rene Zellweger - a Texan - but I think she won over her worst critics.
Hmmm…well I have read the book and it doesn’t sound like the movie lives up to it. The book is a fascination disection of a particular culture. The reviews seem to suggest the movie is all about beautifully shot moments and “soap opera”. Which sounds to me like they missed the point…if anything the book was all about the hard work it took to acheive the beautiful moments.
And what’s with the promotional picture?!? There’s quite a bit in the book about hair…and how they had to sleep sitting up to preserve their hairdos. This is not insignifigent, it’s actaully part of the point…about what a geisha’s life was. And the picture has her with her hair in her face…that is, how a 21st century movie goer might find sexy, but not how a geisha whould ever let herself been seen.
Sounds like they didn’t get. Too bad, it was a good book.
The book was incredibly good. My husband read it aloud to me and both of us were quite taken with it. The story was compelling and the information imparted about the actual lifestyle of a geisha was riveting. I’m glad that I have short term memory problems. I want to hurry up and forget so that I can read it again!
I definitely want to see this film in a theater – even if the reviews are not so good. It will be really hard for the film to live up to this fantastic book. I wouldn’t think that it would be a regular feature length film; surely it is longer.
Has it been released nation-wide yet?
I just got back from a showing. It opened this weekend in Japan. I saw it with my S.O. and her mother (both Japanese). They both seemed to like it. Lots of the patrons cried in certain scenes. I read the book a few years ago. I enjoyed it for its entertainment value. It took me a while to adjust seeing all the Japanese characters speak to each other in English.
I’d like to add my accolades for the book, which was really terrific. The movie may be good, and we will watch it, but there isn’t a prayer of a chance that it can do justice to the book. Strong recommendation for everybody to read this book.
I saw the trailer the other day, and decided to re-read the book in preparation…not for viewing the movie, but for participating in the eventual thread here. The longer I’m here on the Dope, the more I feel the need to educate myself!
Saw most of Memoirs of a Geisha this weekend.
As said elsewhere, the first third was akin to Dickens by Speilberg. I kept waiting for a young japanese version of the artful dodger to show up and offer to pimp Sayouri’s ass. The best thing about that was Gong Li as the living incarnation of spite on wheels. The second third, where Memeha trains Sayouri to become the most desirable Geisha in Japan was okay, (it is great seeing Michelle Yeoh again). Sadly owing to a nicotine fit I missed the big throwdown between Sayouri and her nemesis. The final third felt rushed, but the final betrayals were pretty damn intense, and almost redeemed the movie. I also wish Zhang Ziyi’s character was a bit more proactive. See it for Michelle Yeoh and Gong Li, if you see it at all.
As for the outcry against Dreamworks decision to cast Chinese actresses in the three key roles:
In light of the fact that racist anti Korean and anti Chinese manga are bestsellers in Japan, it’s hard for me to resist pointing this out…so forgive me my own pettiness.
The Japanese outcry against the penetration of Korean bands and films into their pop media markets says something about Japanese producers unwillingness to invest the necessary money to compete effectively with the Koreans (in the Japaneses’ own markets no less), thus all the finger-pointing. The same can be said about the casting of Gong Li, Michelle Yeoh and Ziyi Zhang in Memoirs of a Geisha. Japanese audiences should be asking themselves what is it about their entertainment industries that almost no Japanese actresses of this and the last generation can compete for recognizability on the world stage with Yeoh, Li and Ziyi, before they start screaming at Dreamworks SKG for being unwilling to risk millions of dollars on actresses that are totally unknown outside Japan.
The initial controversy over the book, IIRC, was that the former geisha interviewed by the author (Golden?) was not aware that he was researching for a book based on her life.
To try and answer WonK’s criticism of the Japanese film industry, it is extremely hard for non-English speaking actors to do well outside their home country. There are some fine Japanese actors who were evidentally overlooked. Employing at least one Japanese lead might have done something to promote an internationally-orientated Japanese film industry as well as ensured the film’s success in Japan, which is not an insignificant market (remember when Pearl Harbour tanked and the film studio, remarkably, were counting on Ben Affleck’s popularity in Japan to try and save the film?).
Shogun meets Showgirls.
Can anyone name that literary device?
I read the book a few years ago and loved it - I couldn’t put it down at the time - which is why I wanted to see the movie.
The movie sucked ass.
It was boring with a capital B-O-R-I-N-G. Granted, it was cinematically beautiful, with great costumes and scenery, but the story moved along sooo slowly in the first hour that I was alternately nodding off and squirming in my seat to go get popcorn, Junior Mints, anything to get me out of there.
My female SO loved it however. Maybe it’s a ‘chick flick’. We saw King Kong earlier the same week and I loved it - she hated it.
I’m not faulting the director/actors of MoaG, I just think it’s one of those books that, while a fantastic read, just does not translate well to film.
It looked good when Spielberg was set to direct it, now I’m curious. I’ll see it eventually.
I believe the biggest controversy was that he used his source’s name in the book, when it was supposed to be anonymous, supposedly causing her problems. Also, she accussed him of fabricating elements of the book and misportraying parts of her life.
Regarding the Chinese vs. Japanese actress criticism of the movie, I think it’s legitimate.
I believe one of those fabrication accusations was the furthering of the perception that geisha are prostitutes. If sex is involved at all, apparently that is between an individual geisha and her customer; rather, geisha are hired companions/entertainers. She wrote a couple of autobiographical books on her life and work, which I’d find more interesting, I think.
I liked it.
I didn’t mind it so much. Sure, it was sappy, melodramatic and a little campy. But what can you expect? It wasn’t any better or worse than any other period piece. I don’t hear anyone complaining about the accuracy and realism of those endless awful Jane Austen adaptations.
And let’s face it, the book was pretty darn sappy. Nothing wrong with that.
My big problem is the accents. I live in a city that is 30% Asian. I date Asians. I work with Asians. I’ve been to Asia. I am no stranger to Asian-ness. And I have never, ever, in my life, heard someone speak with such a ridiculous accent. Throughout the movie, unremittingly, except for the final scenes when Pumpkin magically and mercifully dropped it, everyone spoke in an over-the-top embarrassing parody of broken English. It was truly degrading and offensive- not just to the people on screen, but to the movie goers themselves.
Yes! That was another thing that bugged me about this movie. Some of the accents were so thick they should have included subtitles. Hell, they should have just done it in Japanese with subtitles all along. Especially Ken Watanabe (The Chairman). Maybe I was just tired, but every time he said a line I had to turn to my girlfriend and ask “WTF did he just say?” It got pretty annoying.
I really enjoyed it! I thought they did as good as they could have with the book. A few things I didn’t like:
-The accents. The actors tended to speak so… strangely at times and could be difficult to understand.
-Hatsumomo looked trashy at times, and the book went to great lengths to tell the reader that she was always, always classy and beautiful and because of that people that didn’t know her would never have suspected her of being so cruel.
I am actually looking forward to seeing it again!
I have not read the book but did see the movie yesterday.
It was good but I never got really involved deeply with the characters. Gong Li was great and I liked everyone but for some reason, I didn’t care about them.
At one point the young girl climbs out on the roof in an attempt to run away and I was thinking how cool it would be if she just flew like in Crouching Tiger. Or when she did her big dance I was thinking about Flashdance and I wondered if she would pull a chain at the end and douse herself with water.
I didnt’ really get why she loved the Chairman so much, it was kind of creepy as he was old enough to be her dad, and WWII seemed to not be a very big deal to them.