Destiny Fulfilled
Memoirs is Beauty and Art

It takes patience to wait for that one time of the year when the studios all release their Oscar contenders. In the short span of time, there are a deluge of films that filmmakers hope will capture the imagination and memories of Oscar voters and the general public. This year, filmgoers are given a wondrous gift of story and image. Like those women whose profession it reveals, Memoirs of a Geisha is a work of art brought to life.

Memoirs of a Geisha
The Chairman (Ken Watanabe) gets a lesson in patience and cherry blossoms from Sayuri (Ziyi Zhang) in Memoirs of a Geisha. (Columbia, 2005)

Directed by: Rob Marshall
Written by: Robin Swicord and Doug Wright, based on a novel by Arthur Golden
Starring: Ziyi Zhang, Michelle Yeoh, Ken Watanabe, and Gong Li

Rated PG-13 (for mature subject matter and some sexual content)
Running time: 145 min.

FilmGuru's Rating : 9 out of 10.

For many Americans, the word geisha may evoke little more than an image of a woman with a painted face. Some may incorrectly assume geishas are merely prostitutes. To define what a geisha is or what she does is difficult, because there is no equivalent in our culture. In Memoirs, a brief explanation is given. Mameha (Michelle Yeoh) says, "Remember Chiyo, geisha are not courtesans and we are not wives. We sell our skills, not our bodies. We create another secret world, a place only of beauty. The very word 'geisha' means artist, and to be a geisha is to be judged as a moving work of art."

Memoirs is more than just the art of being a geisha. The skills and training are barely touched on here in favor of telling the story of one girl, Chiyo (Suzuka Ohgo), and her life. The film begins in 1929, with Chiyo's father, a poor village fisherman named Sakamoto (Mako), selling her and her sister. Chiyo is sold to the Nitta okiya (a geisha house) in Japan's Gion district where she will work as a servant until she is ready to learn to be a geisha.

Chiyo tries several times to escape, and a series of incidents brings her debt to the house very high. So high, in fact, that Mother (Kaori Momoi) declares that Chiyo will no longer train as a geisha but instead be her slave. Depressed and alone, Chiyo is seen on the street by the Chairman (Ken Watanabe) who cheers her up with some flavored ice and gives her money for dinner. The geisha with him are beautiful, and Chiyo decides that the only way for her to one day meet the Chairman is to become a geisha herself.

To her surprise, fate intervenes that same winter. Mameha (Michelle Yeoh), the head of a rival okiya, offers to train Chiyo and makes a wager with Mother that Chiyo will pay off her debt in six months after her debut as a geisha. When Chiyo gets older and becomes apprenticed to Mameha, she adopts the name Sayuri (played by Ziyi Zhang). As she is slowly introduced to the public through Mameha's clients, her rival Hatsumomo (Gong Li) tries to destroy her reputation. Mameha not only trains Sayuri, but she also acts as something between promoter and agent. Mameha secures her a lead in a production that makes her the most celebrated geisha in the city.

The film is filled with wonderful images of old Japan, both the cluttered and claustrophobic Gion district as well as beautiful gardens and temples. The entire film is a cinematic wonder. I loved the detail that went into the costumes and set design. I know virtually nothing about Japanese history, but I found the film created a certain authenticity of the period.

Composer John Williams penned the score for the film, which is as good as it gets. I love Williams's work, and I think his music always enhances a film. Williams' compositions feature both Eastern and Western instrumentation, and masters of the shamisen, koto, shakuhachi, taiko drums and other Japanese traditional instruments.

The story itself is a work of fiction, and will appeal to audiences in much the same way as films like Pretty Woman or Leaving Las Vegas. We romanticize the life of those who have sex for money and we want to believe that every hooker has a heart of gold. Directed by Rob Marshall (Chicago), Memoirs offers a stylized version of this exotic world, filled with beautiful women and charming men. It may not be historically accurate, but it is engaging.

It is a powerful and evocative love story, but not a typical one for Hollywood. Because the role of the geisha is to serve, it is not in her destiny to find love. The conflicting ideas may be difficult for some to grasp, but it makes sense in the greater scheme of things.