Memoirs of a Geisha

Memoirs of a Geisha narrates the experiences of a young girl sold by her father to a geisha house. The film is an adaptation of the Arthur Golden novel of the same title.

This is a costume drama set in Japan during the 1930s and 1940s. It has most of the virtues and defects associated with costume films. Although the subject, setting, and characters are almost exclusively Japanese, the movie was made almost exclusively by Americans—the actors being the only exception. In exploring the geisha tradition, the film addresses a mainly American audience, which may explain the fundamentally romantic plot that frames the story—a young girl is befriended by a handsome older man and immediately decides to dedicate herself to becoming a geisha and finding a way to serve him.

Because Memoirs of a Geisha targets an American audience, I am curious to know how accurately it portrays geishas. To what extent do American preconceptions and stereotypes shape it? How did this film fare in Japan, if it fared there at all? It certainly seems to pay careful attention to details—costumes, setting, architecture—but are these details accurate? In particular it portrays often vicious rivalries and jealousies that govern relations between different geishas and geisha houses. Did such rivalries really occur? There is a documentary quality to much of the film, though this is faux documentary.

The film suggests that women who become geishas often do so because they have no alternative, that geishas have no identity of their own and instead take their identity from the men they serve. One would expect this focus to be reflected in the plot, that at some point the main character might break out and assert herself. Instead the film settles for a conventionally romantic conclusion. The film’s poorly hidden feminism turns out to be water, like the main character.

There is good acting. Ziyi Zhang (2046, House of Flying Daggers, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) plays the central character Sayuri (I disagree with Manohla Dargis’ criticism of her acting in the New York Times review) while the excellent Michelle Yeoh (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) plays the older geisha who befriends and teaches her. Li Gong (2046, Eros) plays an older geisha jealous of Sayuri and determined to disgrace her. The setting is well exploited. The cinematography is beautiful. Rob Marshall is the director, and this film is by far the most challenging work he has tackled. The film and the characters are interesting, and in general the film is entertaining. But it lacks energy and keeps you at a distance.

The ending seems wholly at odds with what the film has seemed to argue about geishas and about Japanese culture.