Poll Position: Memoirs of a Geisha (2005)

Last week's poll looked at a lot of different romance movies. While Date Night was an early favorite, Memoirs of a Geisha came out ahead and took the poll in the last days of voting. I've actually been wanting to see this film for a long time, so I'm glad it won in the end. I didn't know if this would be an English language movie or if it would be spoken in Japanese with English subtitles, but it turned out to be an interesting hybrid of the two. I'll get more in depth on this fascinating love story set in a changing culture on the other side of the jump.


Chiyo (Suzuka Ohgo) is the youngest daughter of a failing fisherman. He sells his two daughters in hopes of getting enough money to heal his ailing wife. Chiyo ends up being placed in a geisha house with the hopes that she will one day bring money to the house by impressing men with her artistry and grace. You see, geisha are seen almost like living works of art. They sing, they play music, and they dance, all with a level of grace that can only be considered perfection. But life is not easy for a geisha. She will have jealous rivals among the other geisha (Li Gong) who all want each other's clients. That isn't all that Chiyo, now grown-up and known as Sayuri (Ziyi Zhang), wants in her life. She desperately loves an honorable, and kind man (Ken Watanabe), but only from afar. Will she ever even get the chance to say her feelings towards him, let alone be with him, as a geisha for whom love is not allowed.

The "mother" of the geisha house notices Chiyo's dazzling blue eyes

Where do I start? This film was fantastic! The acting, the cinematography, the story, the history, and even the interesting way they decided to handle the language in the film was all superb! I'm not sure what to talk about in detail, because I would probably just ramble on and on about how much it's all great. Oh, what the heck... why not?

I'll start with the acting. As with most films, child actors can be tricky to deal with. Luckily, not only is the main character Chiyo played by the wonderful Suzuka Ohgo, but even the side rolls are filled with talented young actors. She is then surrounded by great adult actors as well in the form of the woman who will teacher to how to be a geisha Michelle Yeoh, the other geisha in the house played by Li Gong and Youki Kudoh, and even the man who would eventually capture her heart, Ken Watanabe. There are so many other characters who I could mention, but suffice it to say that they were all completely believable and very genuine.

Sayuri (Ziyi Zhang), her mentor Mameha (Michelle Yeoh), and her rival Hatsumomo (Li Gong)

The cinematography is frequently amazing and sometimes even breathtaking. It certainly helps that I'm a fan of Japan in general, but seeing beautiful shots of long roads walled on either side by tall bamboo forests, sweeping vistas of the sea and Japanese cliffs, and enchanting Cherry Blossom trees over a pond are hard to beat anyways. Then we also get to see the bustling streets of a Japan before it was ravaged by war and "invaded" by the Americans. The mix of the western culture and the Eastern traditions is still subtle for most of the film, but that all drastically changes when the war comes about. Yet again the cinematography changes to suit the mood of the film perfectly. I don't think there's a single moment that Memoirs of a Geisha doesn't look beautiful, much like the geisha themselves.

Sayuri loves this man, whom she only ever refers to as the Chairman

I was slightly worried that the story would be very slow and tedious, after all, geisha are not known for moving quickly, at least not in my mind. What I ended up finding was my eyes glued to the screen, watching beautiful scenery, with great actors and never being bored once by the story. I couldn't stop watching, and I just wanted to know what was going to happen next. I could never predict where it was going to go, and the film certainly sets up the possibility for both a sad and happy ending being entirely plausible. There are plenty of betrayals, as well as kind gestures throughout, and I could see it going either way. They say many times that geisha are not allowed, or don't have the luxury of love, and yet Sayuri keeps on hoping anyways. It's sweet, tragic, happy, and strength sapping all at the same time with all its ups and downs.

An amazing dance performed by Sayuri that had me forgetting to breathe

One last thing I'd like to note briefly is the director's choice of language. The film is primarily in English, but all the actors speak with slight accents of Japanese. If this was on purpose, or unavoidable due to the actors not being able to speak fully perfect English, or if it was just because Ziyi Zhang, being Chinese, couldn't speak Japanese, I didn't care. It made me feel as if they were speaking Japanese, but it was as if I also knew the language, and thus could understand it for myself. I also liked how they would sometimes throw untranslated words into the dialog, like how Sayuri would call the woman who bought her from her parents "okasan" (mother), or her closest and most trusted friends "oneesan" (sister).

Blue eyes are always the best... but I may be biased.

I thoroughly enjoyed Memoirs of a Geisha, far more than I thought I would. Maybe the only thing I wish there was more of was the time during the war that it pretty much just skips over, but considering it was already at 2 1/2 hours, I won't hold it against them. We really do follow Chiyo all the way from childhood to adulthood, and I found the "behind the scenes" style look at her life and becoming a geisha to be fascinating. I'd definitely recommend it, but it is a long, dramatic and romantic movie, so I know it won't be for everyone. Nevertheless, it was certainly a film for me. Thanks for all those who voted this into the victory spot!