Ink Blotting - Memoirs of a Geisha

Posted on Thursday, January 19, 2006 at 12:00 AM

Memoirs of a Geisha

I have always railed against biographical, memoirish, movies as no film can manage to encapsulate an entire life in the finite scope of its two hour window. Memoirs of a Geisha is no exception to my disfavor of the genre.

Though reviewers have railed against the movie for its lack of Japanese casting and a true Japanese understanding of the role of Geisha, the movie is bang on for the setting. I would like to reflect Roger Ebert's opinion here that though the cast is primarily Chinese and the topic material inaccurate, the movie is rendered beautifully. There is a depth to the cinematography and acting that draws one into the very world of geisha (the fact that this world doesn't exist doesn't really matter it seems). The actors emote with such tangible intangibility so as to seem truly trapped in a world they hardly know to escape from.

Nevertheless I am not particularly partial to the movie. In biopics like Memoirs of a Geisha there is generally a terrible amount of movement through time. It is a failure of the genre that there oftentimes needs to be 3 or 4 different actors to represent the same individual. In Memoirs of a Geisha there are only 2, we are thankfully given reprieve of an elderly actor in the lead role or having Ziyi Zhang in aging make-up. While the principle geisha-to-be is a young girl the movie is dark, closed, enclosing. Shots are filmed at close angles and usually in the dim of the torchlit house or at night. It is not until we see the marvelous ability the passing of 10 years has on a girl that the young Chiyo becomes Sayuri.

The progression of the plot is terribly linear, lackluster and limited. We learn the simple roots Ziyi Zhang's character starts from and how she overcame certain limitations to become the city's finest and most sought after Geisha. Her motivations are simple and her difficulties are often resolved by fortuitous events. There is determination in the central protagonist, (the movie refers to it as "too much water in her") but it is determination lacking direction and duration. When she is younger she desires to flee the geisha house and rejoin her sister. But when that is thwarted she ceases her attempts. After meeting the Chairman she determines to become a Geisha and win over his heart, but only manages to continue in her servant role until circumstances lead her to Michelle Yeoh's Memeha.

With the material they have, the actors do an amazing job of rendering the character's as living and breathing people. The scenery and world the Geisha live in seems to make their role in society an enviable and interesting one. It is the plot and depth of the film that disturbs me. The limited scope of the character's story arch lends no credence towards the necessity of having Sayuri's entire life laid before the audience. The secondary plotlines and characters seem to only offer more screen time without furthering the central mores and themes.

The only recommendations for seeing this film is for the cinematography and the talents of the actors in the film. There is no powerful message behind the life of the geisha. The geisha society isn't accurately rendered and the movie itself seems to glamorize and beautify prostitution. Though Sayuri rails against becoming a Geisha during the first act, she learns to accept her place in the second and in the third and final act resolves to re-enter the world of geisha in order to find love and happiness.

2 stars out of 4.

Kyle Gould is a University of Calgary Graduate in English devoutly trying to make the 25,000 dollar piece of parchment not just a glorified ink blot. Currently it would serve better as a Rorschach test. Feel free to throw some ink his way at wkkgould@hotmail.com.