Memoirs of Geisha
I went to see the movie tonight, and despite some bad reviews, I enjoyed it.
It was very good, although the book was definitely better. (I find that movies rarely do books justice anyway.) The scenary really was magnificent. It's hard to believe only a very small part of it was actually filmed in Japan. I thought the movie cut out all the right parts, and kept the important parts of the book.
My favourite actress was Gong Li. Wow, she was superb as Hatsumomo. Her evil eye says it all. If looks could kill. She should get some sort of a supporting actress award. Everyone else kind of pales in comparison. The actresses' overtly Chinese accents actually annoyed me a little. It can't be helped, but I felt it ruined the mood of the movie a little. At least it did for me. The little girl that played young Chiyo was very good as well. I also found Zhang Ziyi very versatile. She was totally believable as a 15 year old as well as a mature and beautiful geisha.
Most importantly, the movie made me change my view about the ending of the book. When I first read the book, I really was adamant that Sayuri should have gone with Nobu. After seeing the movie, I finally see what Arthur Golden had intended. I see the reasons behind Sayuri and the Chairman, and I believe it. And as much as I really couldn't stand Zhang Ziyi's accent, I thought she was a good actress. Her strongest moments were her non-speaking ones! She is very expressive without words. You have to give her props though, for portraying a major role in a non-native language. It must be hard to get all of the emotion down in a new language. I think that's why some of the critics said the acting was "cold". I thought she played Sayuri very well, considering she is just learning English.
It was very good, although the book was definitely better. (I find that movies rarely do books justice anyway.) The scenary really was magnificent. It's hard to believe only a very small part of it was actually filmed in Japan. I thought the movie cut out all the right parts, and kept the important parts of the book.
My favourite actress was Gong Li. Wow, she was superb as Hatsumomo. Her evil eye says it all. If looks could kill. She should get some sort of a supporting actress award. Everyone else kind of pales in comparison. The actresses' overtly Chinese accents actually annoyed me a little. It can't be helped, but I felt it ruined the mood of the movie a little. At least it did for me. The little girl that played young Chiyo was very good as well. I also found Zhang Ziyi very versatile. She was totally believable as a 15 year old as well as a mature and beautiful geisha.
Most importantly, the movie made me change my view about the ending of the book. When I first read the book, I really was adamant that Sayuri should have gone with Nobu. After seeing the movie, I finally see what Arthur Golden had intended. I see the reasons behind Sayuri and the Chairman, and I believe it. And as much as I really couldn't stand Zhang Ziyi's accent, I thought she was a good actress. Her strongest moments were her non-speaking ones! She is very expressive without words. You have to give her props though, for portraying a major role in a non-native language. It must be hard to get all of the emotion down in a new language. I think that's why some of the critics said the acting was "cold". I thought she played Sayuri very well, considering she is just learning English.