![]() If the film possessed even one tenth of the beauty of something like, say, Zhang Yimou's House of Flying Daggers, which opens in a florid brothel whose beauty is positively staggering, Westerners might have truly experienced the unique contrast between the geishas' universe - that is, the affluent, ornate social circles, meticulously-designed costumes and enriching relationships established by their efforts. Unfortunately, director Marshall's reunion with cinematographer Dion Beebe (who recently also worked on Collateral) proves to be one only half successful aiming perhaps for a more realistic than stylized interpretation of the geishas' world, he ultimately undermines the terrific opportunities the material offers to create palpable visual juxtapositions between the strictures of Japanese culture and the decadent society in which these characters traffick.įor example, much of the dialogue is spent explaining how difficult and uncomfortable is the life of the geisha, and the accompanying images show matter-of-factly shot kimonos, neck rests, and other exotic accoutrements to their lifestyle. Playing a heavy in a film like this is either a curse or a blessing - depending on whether the character is to be rendered straight or larger than life - and Gong, who has earned legendary status as an early muse of director Zhang Yimou ( Raise the Red Lantern), enjoys her own first taste of success in a project that exploits the exoticism of Oriental culture to highly dramatic if not always believable effect. Gong Li, on the other hand, soars gloriously over the top as Hatsumomo, a movie villain if ever there were one. ![]() Michelle Yeoh, meanwhile, brings the same gravitas to her role here that she did in Crouching Tiger, and provides a mature voice against which Zhang is able to embody Sayuri's evolving development both as a geisha and a young woman. Ziyi Zhang, late of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon amongst other martial arts movies, is being groomed for a Western career, and Memoirs is designed to be her proper debut unfortunately, she has already played shades of this character in better movies, and fails to truly personalize the struggles of her character or illuminate why - other than her crystal-blue eyes - she stands out as such a special creature. That said, Zhang, Li and Yeoh are game to the task of bringing this world to life, even if their director is not, and offer shades of complexity that elevate the streamlined, melodramatic script to something genuinely moving. Much ado has been made since the movie's inception about the casting of three Chinese actresses in traditionally Japanese roles, and rightly so: the two countries have a long-standing and arguably justified animosity between them, and their cultures are significantly different from one another.
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