vw_hk89
Joined Oct 2005
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Reviews4
vw_hk89's rating
Having found out that 3 of my favourite Chinese actresses would appear as leading characters in this film, I was obviously inclined to read the novel before watching the film. I enjoyed the novel and looked forward to watching the film. And I was not disappointed.
The story is set in 1920s Japan. Our protagonist, Chiyo, is sold into a geisha house and antagonised by the head geisha, it is only when an encounter with a complete stranger changes her life and as a result, causes her to harness a forbidden infatuation with him
Rob Marshall and the crew have shown much care and attention to the aesthetics of the film to ensure that the setting was convincing as a 1920s Japanese town, even at times I completely forgot the film was made in America and not Japan.
The costumes were also really beautiful and I would pay just to own one of them.
Performances from supporting and leading cast members exceeded my expectations. Suzuka Ohgo; who plays the little Chiyo captures your heart immediately and is just adorable.
Zhang ZiYi was an unexpected choice at first but she managed to portray Sayuri well ageing gracefully from the naive and vulnerable age of 15 to a sage early thirties.
Watanabe Ken didn't have much screen time which is understandable, but it is a good change to see him play a different character and not a scary sword yielding samurai.
Gong Li's Hatsumomo stole most of the film and was by far one of the highlights of the film.
Another outstanding performance was from Michelle Yeoh's Mameha, who played a very sage, wise and beautiful geisha which was necessary for the portrayal of Sayuri's mentor.
Once again, Williams produces one of the greatest scores of his career after passing up on Harry Potter, though most surprisingly, his score lost to Brokeback Mountain.
At first I was disappointed that the film would be made in English and not Japanese as I tend to find it quite cheesy.
Kudoh Youki like Zhang was capable of portraying a young 15-year old Pumpkin, but it was later on in the film when Pumpkin becomes a drunk and loose hooker that disappointed me greatly as that was not how Pumpkin was described after the war.
Similarly, the scene involving the Baron and Sayuri disgusted me and looked like a rape scene when I saw it.
In conclusion, I feel the film is definitely one of the most beautifully shot films of the year and would recommend it to anyone who are fascinated with Japanese culture.
The story is set in 1920s Japan. Our protagonist, Chiyo, is sold into a geisha house and antagonised by the head geisha, it is only when an encounter with a complete stranger changes her life and as a result, causes her to harness a forbidden infatuation with him
Rob Marshall and the crew have shown much care and attention to the aesthetics of the film to ensure that the setting was convincing as a 1920s Japanese town, even at times I completely forgot the film was made in America and not Japan.
The costumes were also really beautiful and I would pay just to own one of them.
Performances from supporting and leading cast members exceeded my expectations. Suzuka Ohgo; who plays the little Chiyo captures your heart immediately and is just adorable.
Zhang ZiYi was an unexpected choice at first but she managed to portray Sayuri well ageing gracefully from the naive and vulnerable age of 15 to a sage early thirties.
Watanabe Ken didn't have much screen time which is understandable, but it is a good change to see him play a different character and not a scary sword yielding samurai.
Gong Li's Hatsumomo stole most of the film and was by far one of the highlights of the film.
Another outstanding performance was from Michelle Yeoh's Mameha, who played a very sage, wise and beautiful geisha which was necessary for the portrayal of Sayuri's mentor.
Once again, Williams produces one of the greatest scores of his career after passing up on Harry Potter, though most surprisingly, his score lost to Brokeback Mountain.
At first I was disappointed that the film would be made in English and not Japanese as I tend to find it quite cheesy.
Kudoh Youki like Zhang was capable of portraying a young 15-year old Pumpkin, but it was later on in the film when Pumpkin becomes a drunk and loose hooker that disappointed me greatly as that was not how Pumpkin was described after the war.
Similarly, the scene involving the Baron and Sayuri disgusted me and looked like a rape scene when I saw it.
In conclusion, I feel the film is definitely one of the most beautifully shot films of the year and would recommend it to anyone who are fascinated with Japanese culture.
As a fan of Yeoh's films, I desperately felt I needed to see this film, I was impressed with the trailer but then it all led to disappointment when I saw the film. I was aware that the film was receiving bad reviews but when I saw it, it was not as bad as I thought it was but there were some major faults.
The use of incredible locations in the film was a plus, the story line sounded perfect for an adventure film and there was that wonderful combination of action, romance and comedy
I felt that one of the main flaws with the film was the ensemble of actors; though they do look good in their roles, the way they portrayed their characters was rather poor.
Yeoh's performance was not of a satisfactory level, but provided she got to use some martial arts in the film, I was happy.
Ben Chaplin, who plays Eric,provides most of the comic relief for the film, particularly when he attempts to sing a love song in Mandarin Chinese but forgets the words half way through the song. I am still wondering whether the character Bob was even meant to be funny at all as he was just pathetic throughout the film.
Brandon Chang and Margaret Wang who play Lily and Tong are newcomers, of all the actors in the film, their performances were the most disappointing; my reason is mainly that when they spoke, it sounded as if they were on a "lets talk English programme", they were expressionless and bland with their acting.
Another flaw was the use of special effects in the film, particularly in the climax that takes place in the burning cave, at the beginning of the scene, the flames looked real, but whoever was in charge of the cinematography made a huge mistake after applying the flames because the fire looked incredibly fake afterwards as well as a list of other faults concerning the CGI.
Despite the faults outweighing the good points, I did enjoy the film, but it was merely average.
The use of incredible locations in the film was a plus, the story line sounded perfect for an adventure film and there was that wonderful combination of action, romance and comedy
I felt that one of the main flaws with the film was the ensemble of actors; though they do look good in their roles, the way they portrayed their characters was rather poor.
Yeoh's performance was not of a satisfactory level, but provided she got to use some martial arts in the film, I was happy.
Ben Chaplin, who plays Eric,provides most of the comic relief for the film, particularly when he attempts to sing a love song in Mandarin Chinese but forgets the words half way through the song. I am still wondering whether the character Bob was even meant to be funny at all as he was just pathetic throughout the film.
Brandon Chang and Margaret Wang who play Lily and Tong are newcomers, of all the actors in the film, their performances were the most disappointing; my reason is mainly that when they spoke, it sounded as if they were on a "lets talk English programme", they were expressionless and bland with their acting.
Another flaw was the use of special effects in the film, particularly in the climax that takes place in the burning cave, at the beginning of the scene, the flames looked real, but whoever was in charge of the cinematography made a huge mistake after applying the flames because the fire looked incredibly fake afterwards as well as a list of other faults concerning the CGI.
Despite the faults outweighing the good points, I did enjoy the film, but it was merely average.
