Memoirs of a Geisha
I know very little about Japanese culture outside of the movies I see about it, be they American productions or- more helpful- Japanese films (Anime doesn’t really help out in this respect, but there’s a singular sensibility to it that makes it important on this level). The films of Akira Kurosawa in particular are most valuable to me in this discovery- from “Ran” to “Yojimbo” to “Ikiru” to “Dreams,” Kurosawa’s work has been invaluable to me in the way they can be accessible as entertainment to an outside audience while staying true to the culture and values they show the viewer. He is one of my favorite filmmakers of all-time (of Chinese filmmakers, director Zhang Yimou- another all-time favorite from overseas after “House of Flying Daggers,” “Raise the Red Lantern,” and “Ju Dou”- has provided similar insight in his versatile body of work).
In “Memoirs of a Geisha”- based on the celebrated novel by Arthur Golden- there were many times when I felt the story’s emotional pull might have come through more had the film- peopled with mostly Asian actors (with only Americans as the story moves more explicitly into the years of World War II)- been in Japanese with subtitles (though the casting- more on that later- might have played a part in that). That’s not to say I wasn’t enthralled by “Memoirs'” tale of a young farm woman named Chio, sold at a young age to become groomed as a geisha- or artist, entertainer (it’s ignorant to say they’re just prostitutes)- and through a difficult early apprecticeship, eventually becomes Sayuri, the most popular geisha in pre-WWII Japan; the story is too intriguing to be dull. But by having the actors not accustomed to speaking English attempting too convey the dialogue in a language not near their own renders some of the heightened emotions we’re to be feeling as difficult to, well, feel. Glimmers of them come through- the people involved in the production are just too good at what they do- but while I should have been swept off and in tears at the end, I was merely quietly moved. Nothing wrong with that- the movie did its’ job well- but the grand emotions I saw take place onscreen lost something in the translation to a foreign language the actors were forced to convey them in. Plus, didn’t the $370 million “The Passion of the Christ” made (and the $100 million of “Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon” before that) show that with the right marketing strategy, people are becoming more and more ready to see epic productions with stories to match in different languages?
That said, “Geisha” exists in a visual medium first and foremost, and visually, the movie is without peer. If this movie had been a silent film, with just the images and John Williams’s extraordinary score (featuring devastating solos by violinist Itzak Pearlman- who played on Williams’s score for “Schindler’s List”- and cellist Yo Yo Ma- who broke my heart on “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”) to tell this story, it might have been a masterpiece. That it falls short of that status- and is simply an entertaining and exquisite costume drama- comes precisely from the reasons given above. If Williams’s music is a feast for the ears, “Geisha’s” images are a feast for the eyes.
Because of this, Rob Marshall- three years removed from his triumph with the Oscar-winning “Chicago”- was the right man for the job. With “Geisha,” he lives up to the promise of “Chicago” by creating a stylized and sensual vision that captures the allure of pre-WWII Japan and Sayuri’s world in particular. Cheers to cinematographer Dion Beebe (“Collateral,” “Chicago”), costume designer Colleen Atwood (“Chicago,” “Sleepy Hollow”)- the filmâ’s best shot at an Oscar next to Williams’s score- and art directors Patrick M. Sullivan Jr. (an assistant art director on “A.I.”) and Tomas Voth (“What Dreams May Come”) for bringing the detailed universe of Golden’s novel (which is adapted intelligently by Robin Swicord) to vibrant, exhilarating life with a director who is establishing himself as one of America’s most lively visual stylists and storytellers (though it slows, the film doesn’t stop in its tracks during its 137 minute running time).
Ok, so why- other than the fact it’s an American production- is this film not in Japanese again? Look at the cast- only one of the leads- “Last Samurai” Oscar-nominee Ken Watanabe (who brings the same dignity and intelligence he lent that film to the role of the Chairman, whose kindness to Sayuri as a child left a lasting impression now that she’s an adult)- is actually Japanese. In a culture clash that turned heads here and abroad, all three female leads are played by Chinese actresses, all of whom rise to the occasion and above their sometimes-shaky command of English. As Mameha, Michelle Yeoh (who deserved Oscar’s notice for “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”) radiates wisdom and feeling as Sayuri’s mentor in the ways of geisha and friend when the specter of WWII clouds the skies of Japan. In the role of Hatsuomo, Sayuri and Mameha’s rival and the most revered geisha in Sayuri’s former house, the producers cast one of China’s most revered stars, Gong Li. She spent her early career playing fiercely independent women for director/ex-beau Zhang Yimou in such excellent and important works like “Raise the Red Dragon,” “Ju Dou,” “The Story of Quix Ju,” as well as 1993’s Oscar-winning “Farewell My Concubine.” As the fiery Hatsumomo, Li steals every scene she’s in and brings additional sparks to “Geisha’s” unabashedly melodramatic story, capping a year that included two memorable roles for Hong Kong’s Wong Kar-Wai, the first as a prostitute whose persuasive sensuality inspires a tailor in Kar-Wai’s “The Hand” segment in “Eros,” the second as the lost love of a writer in the director’s celebrated- but personally, overrated- “2046.” Her role in “Geisha”- which has garnered some deserving Oscar buzz- is just the tip of the iceberg for Li in Hollywood; this summer she’ll play a villainous in Michael Mann’s retooling of “Miami Vice.”
And then there’s Ziyi Zhang as Sayuri herself. Like Yeoh, she’s worked in Hollywood before (I bet few remember she was the villain in “Rush Hour 2”), but this is her first major role outside of her native China (Yeoh was a Bond girl in “Tomorrow Never Dies”), where her star has risen after acclaimed work in “Crouching Tiger” (like Yeoh, she was robbed of an Oscar nod), Zhang Yimou’s duel martial arts epics- the good “Hero” and the better “House of Flying Daggers”- and Wong Kar-Wai’s “2046” (where- for those who care- she bears all of her stunning beauty for the camera). With “Geisha,” the 26-year old is given the daunting task of being asked to carry a big budget studio film in a language that isn’t her own. It’s a tall order, but Zhang is up to the challenge in a performance of luminous charisma and beauty, with Zhang able to communicate her character’s yearning for not just a life that defies the rules of a geisha, but a romantic passion for the Chairman that’s been building since childhood (in all fairness, a plot idea that’s a bit creepy) with all her talent; even when she stumbles with her English, she gets back up and holds herself high, and does herself proud. She is the embodiment of a woman who- like we’re told about geisha in the movie- can stop a man with a single look.
Originally, “Geisha” was to be directed by Steven Spielberg, who serves as a producer. When considering the story, it’s not hard to see what appealed to him about the story (see “Empire of the Sun” and “The Color Purple”). What is hard to see is how he would have directed it. “Sun” has its moments, but it suffers from its bombastic melodrama too often. “Purple”- one of his most underrated films- would be the better model with its rich female characters. Still, one can’t help but think his film would’ve been more like “Sun” than “Purple” (and one could even argue Marshall’s film is that way). However, this isn’t the same Spielberg we saw in the ’80s. Maybe we might’ve seen a film as different from Spielberg as “Geisha’s” score is for his friend/collaborator Williams. But it’s pointless to speculate now; Spielberg didn’t direct “Memoirs of a Geisha,” Rob Marshall did, and he did the story proud in a film that’s a sumptuous treat for the eyes and the ears, with heightened emotions that ring through despite some rocky line readings what was one of my most entertaining trips to the movies from 2005.
