Tanya Batson, Freelance Writer
Ziyi Zhang (left) and Ken Watanabe in one of the scenes from 'Memoirs of a Geisha'. - CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS
MEMOIRS OF a Geisha is one of those films that I watched with divided loyalties. It is a decidedly beautiful story and the film itself is well made. Even while being bewitched by this very elegant tale of love and survival, I cannot quite ignore the sexual politics at work behind it.
Directed by Rob Marshall, the film is based on the novel by Arthur Golden and was scripted by Robin Swicord. It tells the story of Nitta Sayuri and her move from a small fishing village to becoming one of the most celebrated Geishas in Japan.
The film's most striking element is its arresting beauty. It is a visually captivating film both through the artful camera work and the lead actress, Ziyi Zhang. Zhang delivers a performance dripping with delicate nuance. Even as she learns the art of being a Geisha, one gets a sense of her being deliberately manipulative. Zhang has previously graced western screens as the petulant Jen Yu in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and the deadly Hu Li in Rush Hour 2.
GRACE AND ELEGANCE
In this film she uses no gravity-defying martial arts skills, but she harnesses all the needed grace and elegance. Another beautiful performance is delivered by Michelle Yeow (Mameha). She too puts aside her deadlier skills for this role and delivers a textured performance of a strong woman who expertly plays the hand.
Ken Wantanabe, who captivated in The Last Samurai, is also a welcome addition to the cast. His role as The Captain is a relatively small one, but there is nothing small about Ken Wantanabe who has a masculine magnetism (without any trace of overt machismo) that leaps from the screen.
The film tries desperately to be a love story, and in many ways it is successful, even though it does not really give the real promise of a happily ever after. Additionally, it is reasonably successful at overturning the notion of Geishas as mere objects of desire. By showing the way in which the women craft desire, it suggests that they do exercise some measure of control over their lives.
SEXIST WORLD
Yet, while I admire Mameha and Sayuri's intelligence, the screaming Valkrie within will not allow me to forget that they live in a very sexist world and that power is extremely limited. Furthermore, the inner Valkrie is strengthened by Hatsumomo (Li Gong) who is the classic vengeful woman who when threatened by a younger beauty, dons her war paint, unsheathes her claws and flies for the jugular.
Gong delivers a great performance and one can easily hate the spiteful character she plays. But, it must also be recognised that she is a creature of the situation she lives in, and to its credit, the film does indicate this.
In order to be a true love story, Memoirs of a Geisha would have needed to give greater credence to the relationship (or rather the lack thereof) between The Captain and Sayuri. However, it pays enough attention to Sayuri's own development, spending approximately half of the film on her childhood, so that one is fully engaged by the character and the women around her. And that is the heart of Memoirs of a Geisha, women: How they deal, how they cope, how they love and how they can become embittered when that love is denied.
It places these women in a repressive society and shows that they are not completely powerless victims. As such, even though one can resent its playing into the stereotype that women cannot be true friends, it is a lovely story from beginning to end.
