Supersized budget and lustrous trappings aside, "Memoirs of a Geisha" is basically "Desperate Housewives" with kimonos and fans. Based on Arthur Golden's best-seller, a faux-memoir about the geisha life in Japan before and after World War II, the movie follows the strikingly blue-eyed Sayuri (Suzuka Ohgo, then Ziyi Zhang) who, at age 9, is sold by her impoverished family to work as a servant at a geisha house. There, she's treated like a Dickensian orphan by Mother (Kaori Momoi), a greedy old crone with a sing-song-y voice like nails on a chalkboard, and by Hatsumomo (Gong Li), a grand-diva geisha who's imperious, deceitful, ill-tempered and just plain mean. Read the full review
In the years before World War II, a Japanese child is torn from her penniless family to work in a geisha house. Despite a treacherous rival, the girl blossoms into a legendary geisha. Beautiful and accomplished, she captivates the most powerful men of her day, but is haunted by her secret love for the one man beyond her reach.
Director: Rob Marshall
Starring: Ziyi Zhang, Ken Watanabe, Gong Li, Michelle Yeoh, Youki Kudoh
Run time: 145 minutes
Release date: Dec. 9, 2005
Rating: PG-13 for mature subject matter and some sexual content.
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The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: C
"... wears its Oscar aspirations on its lushly brocaded sleeve. Nominations for production design and costumes would be deserved, but that's as far as it goes — though one of the stars could eke out a nomination simply because, well, the movie's failure isn't their fault, really."
Austin American-Statesman: 3 of 5 stars
"Clearly what was important here was not authenticity but the illusion of it. Not transcendence, but entertainment just foreign enough to convince undemanding viewers they've been taken someplace new."
The Palm Beach Post: B+
"... a worthy film that feels like a throwback to an earlier era of movie-making."
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