Memoirs of a Geisha

Directed by Rob Marshall
Sony Pictures Entertainment
5 stars

As if flying through the air and amazing kung-fu were not enough, Ziyi Zhang (“House of Flying Daggers”) has now added fan dancing and pouring tea to her list of accomplishments—both of which she performs gracefully in Rob Marshall’s (“Chicago”) production of “Memoirs of a Geisha.”
“Memoirs of a Geisha” boasts an acting team of international superstars like Zhang, Michelle Yeoh (“Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”), and Gong Li (“The Emperor and the Assassin”), talented big-name producers like Steven Spielberg and Gary Barber, and the plot line of the bestselling novel by Arthur S. Golden ’78. The resulting expectations are completely satisfied by the screen adaptation.
The film opens in a small fishing village of Japan, in which young Chiyo (Suzuka Ohgo) is sold to a geisha house in the city. There she begins her training in the arts of being a geisha—grace, dancing, smalltalk, pouring tea—while trying to survive the cruel jealousy of the head geisha, Hatsumomo (Li) and the harsh atmosphere of the geisha house. Under the tutelage of Hatsumomo’s rival Mameha (Yeoh), Chiyo grows up to become the stunning and celebrated geisha known as Sayuri (Zhang). As World War II hits Japan, Sayuri must adapt to the changing way of life about her.
Marshall accurately represents Golden’s research of Japanese history and culture. The film is an impressively accurate and detailed portrayal of geisha culture and Japanese life in the 1930s. The creative design of costumes and set, authentic Japanese soundtrack, and marvelous cinematography bring Kyoto’s Gion geisha district to life again—rickshaws race through the streets, geisha totter in on the arms of wealthy men, and townspeople bustle in and out of traditional Japanese houses, complete with rice paper walls, paneled sliding doors, and tatami mats.
The actors themselves commendably recreate the essence of the Japanese geisha culture—ironic considering that the three lead roles are played by Chinese actresses. Both Zhang’s expressive abilities and the skillful editing of the film genuinely convey Sayuri’s development from clumsy apprentice to confirmed, graceful geisha. Zhang’s depth of performance is best demonstrated in a scene in which Sayuri debuts in a solo dance, swaying crazily over the stage, her hair flying wildly over a white kimono—while she is performing for all of Kyoto, her facial expressions convey that she is personally dancing for the Chairman (Ken Watanabe) whom she loves.
There is always the risk that Hollywood’s sound and visual effects will ruin the text’s literary merit, but the cinematic techniques of “Memoirs of a Geisha” actually enhance the tone and mood of the story. In the opening scene, in which Chiyo and her sister are ripped away from their home, the lighting is very dim with dark bluish tones, and it is continually raining. This expressive lighting reoccurs throughout the film to reflect the protagonist’s suffering as a geisha —moving scenes such as when Chiyo searches for her sister in the prostitute district, when Chiyo is beaten in the courtyard, or when the geisha house mother forbids Hatsumomo to see her lover again.
The film leaves almost all of Golden’s story intact, focusing only on animating his prose. The narrator reads directly from several passages of the book intermittently throughout the film, maintaining the literary tone of the novel.
“Memoirs of a Geisha” provides the rare combination of intellectual depth and entertainment, intriguing the viewer with the realistic reenactment of a geisha’s life while embellishing Golden’s creation through great filmmaking. After last month when the saccharine “Pride and Prejudice” utterly failed to deliver the essence of the novel, it is a relief to see that Hollywood can still successfully adapt good literature.