#MEMORIES OF A GEISHA COMPOSER MOVIE#

After Auntie (Tsai Chin), one of the residents of the Nitta Okiya, sees both sisters, she only selects Chiyo. The two sisters are then taken to a hanamachi (the district where the geisha live and perform) in Kyoto. After her mother falls ill, her father sells her and her sister Satsu, hoping that they will be accepted in a geisha house and send their earnings back home. I know this plot is technically in the book, and that this summery is antagonistic, but how they chose to adapt it to the screen really grossed me out.Born in a small fishing Hamlet by the ocean, Chiyo leads an impoverished life with her family. Not to mention she has spent every moment since he bought her candy trying to gain agency over her situation, only to find out he’s been coordinating her entire life and she’s actually been a pawn in his creepy “I want to have sex with that nine-year-old” plan. Technically the Chairman actually confesses his love for her nine-year-old self, telling her how he made her a geisha and then calls her by her childhood name. Then years later, the Chairman confesses his “love” for Sayuri, but only after Nobu tosses her aside. The Chairman thinks this geisha is Nobu’s only chance at a little happiness. Nobu is a kind, hard working and moral man but disfigured from saving the Chairman’s life. He then sees her six years later and orchestrates a way for her to become a geisha.* Once she becomes a geisha he mostly ignores her because the man who saved his life (Nobu) likes her. He buys her candy! Straight up grooming behavior.) He lectures her on kindness and perseverance, which she adopts as virtues for the rest of the film. She has beautiful blue eyes and he offers to buy her flavored ice to cheer her up, while talking to her about how much his children, presumably her age, love flavored ice (aka candy. He meets a crying nine year-old, Sayuri, on the street. Let’s just explore the plot, not as it is presented by our leading lady Sayuri, but from the point of view of her love interest, the Chairman. And that is not what the story is about.īut don’t take my word for it (Reading Rainbow!). The action that is kept in the script ends up making the book look like a poor man’s Lolita. But there had to be a more artistic way to accomplish this task than dialogue of one character explaining the world to another character. The cinematography and art direction (which both won Oscars) tell much more of the story than the poorly written script filled with exposition (so much exposition!), which is an easy trap to fall into considering so much of the book is about a culture and time we Americans know little about. It even uses (or over kills) the themes of water that are present in the book. Yes, it is a very accurate (maybe too precise) depiction of the book. I haven’t seen it since 10 years ago in the theater with whoever that was, and it did win a few awards, so maybe I was too hard on it because I loved the source material. Which isn’t to say it was bad, just underwhelming. But there was no messy passion or excitement or risks that could turn into rewards or embarrassment. No matter who I was with, I remember thinking Rob Marshall captured none of the magic of the book.

I always remember where I was, but have yet to remember who I was with. I’m beginning to notice this pattern in my retrospectives.

#MEMORIES OF A GEISHA COMPOSER MOVIE#

So whom did I see this movie with? I don’t know. When I first tried to recall my movie experience, I thought, “I remember turning to my old roommate, Dani, and telling her how disappointed I was by the adaptation.” But then I did the math and realized I wouldn’t meet Dani for another two years. (If Cinderella was a sex worker, which, come on, she totally would have been.) The book is well researched and beautifully written. 10 years ago I was super excited to see this movie because I love this book.

Memories of a geisha composer