ABC Film Challenge – Memoirs of A Geisha (2005)

This review is part of the Monthly ABC Film Challenge over at Movie Reviews 101. This month’s theme is Oscar films.

If you’re interested in taking part, feel free to contact Darren.

Tnx for letting me take part Darren!

Here‘s the link to the original post.

“We must not expect happiness, Sayuri. It is not something we deserve. When life goes well, it is a sudden gift; it cannot last forever… ” Chairman

Number of Times Seen – 1 (12 Feb 2021)

Brief Synopsis – A young Japanese girl is sold by her family to be trained as a geisha in pre-World War II Japan.

My Take on it –This is a film that I had heard about when it came out, yet never had the chance to check it out until now.

It’s unfortunate that I waited so long to find out, because this was such an eye opening film.

Amazing film that works so well in helping establish the way of life for poor young women in Japan.

The story plays out really well and allows us to see this very complicated life that this society had woven into its fabric.

From a production standpoint, this film is exquisite to watch because of the way that it all is put together.

The costumes, set direction, cinematography and music all help enhance the illusion that we are being transported back in time to another world.

The film was nominated for 6 Oscars in the technical categories and won 3 of them – Cinematography, Art Direction and Costumes. It lost for Best Score, Sound Design and Sound Mixing.

The score by John Williams is amazing and really helps the story feel even more epic in the way that it’s all being told.

Listen to it here:

Williams might have lost the Oscar for his work here, but he did win a Golden Globe for it.

The cast is able to give us some of the most talented actors that are of Japanese descent including Ziyi Zhang, Michelle Yoeh, Ken Watanabe, Mako and Gong Li.

The fact that this is based on a novel makes things more difficult to present it all on screen due to the need for much of the characters thoughts and opinions on events and on everything that transpires here.

The characters are developed really well and we get a clear idea that they each know their place in society and even somewhat strive to fulfill as much promise as possible in their lives especially when looking at things from a romance standpoint.

Highly Recommended!

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – The first film in John Williams’ career for which he asked to compose the music. (From IMDB)

Rating – Oscar Worthy (9/10)