"Memoris of A Geisha"

Ziyi Zhang
Ken Wantanabe
Kôji Yaksuo
Li Gong
Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa

PG13           145min           2005

“Memoirs of a Geisha” is the tale of a poverty stricken little girl’s rise to one of Japan’s premiere geisha, and the fall of them after the war.

“Memoirs of a Geisha” so intimately tells the history of Geishas in a tale that makes you come to care for the art form and not the bastardize form that cropped up after the war. It’s a prevalent ignorant misconception that, most of the world and, I held to until I watched the film. It’s an enlightening film that even though it’s long is informative and entertaining as while.

American’s fascination with the art form has lead to many misconceptions. Geisha are not high priced prostitutes. They are skilled entertainer, trained in the traditional Japanese arts, music, dance, and storytelling, taking years to prefect. This movie is based on a book that is fiction, the facts are truthful and that’s what makes it so interesting. That it’s a tale of a lost art form that will never live and be as mysterious as when in this film. Before its fall it was practiced by few, mastered by fewer, and hired by the elite privileged.

“Memoirs of a Geisha“ gives a rare insight into this world that its barely see in today society. Geishas are still around but that don’t a the skilled and dedication that the “geisha” in this film portray. It makes you want to have a true geisha entertain you. A true geisha was expensive to have entertain you and its lead to the decline of them.

Even now if you see a geisha on the street its more than likely a tourist dressed as one. A true geisha into today’s society is rarely see and that’s what adds to it mystique. Only the few can hire them, and you may not see the true spectacle that is Geisha.

The DVDs extras are a welcomed addition to the film. It in forms you of just how hard it was for the actors to pull off their feats to portray geisha. How hard it was for the film crew to recreate Japan at the turn of the war. It will make you appreciate “What it meant to be geisha?” even more.

If you appreciate art this movie is a deeply personally journey to watch. Looking at this film give shows a lost form at its height and its decline. The geisha in its purist form is gone with the 8-track player. It’s outdated put can probably still be found it looked hard enough, but never to the grace and beauty portrayed in this film.

Watch it. Let your mind go and take in this film. Realize “What it meant to be Geisha?” and appreciate another art form lost to man’s destructive behavior.

I give it a 5/5 Gs.

For more information of the art form of Geisha:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geisha