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Year of release: 2005
Director: Rob Marshall
Writers: Robin Swicord, Arthur Golden (book)
Starring: Zhang Ziyi, Ken Watanabe, Gong Li, Michelle Yeoh etc.

For more information on “Memoirs of a Geisha”, visit Wikipedia and/or IMDb

 

General impression:
Nicely done, mesmerizing visuals, a valid definition for “geisha”. The movie is part fairytale, part beautiful illustration of a culture and its lifestyle. It shows the lack of freedom that independence means for a geisha, the effort that it takes to become one, and the fact that a geisha is not a prostitute, but an artist who embodies beauty.

Highlights:
It has a gorgeous look, the kind that distracts your attention from any flaw.

Downside:
Maybe it doesn’t engage emotion as much as it pleases the eye, and it has a dimension of idealization that doesn’t do much to sustain its aesthetics.

Would I see it again? – Yes. In a few years though.

My Rating (1 to 10): 8

Recommended: Yes

Suggestion:
I haven’t read the book. Maybe it would help. I’m curious which one is more entertaining, the movie or the book. If you read it, tell me what you think 🙂