A Critic's Review...

Me being the critic, of course. Last night, I went to AEON with Ann, Jeff, and Minako to see Sayuri (the Japanese movie title for Memoirs of a Geisha). Memoirs of a Geisha is one of my favorite books, so I had really hoped that they would do a good job with this movie. I knew not to expect much, b/c half the cast is Chinese and they speak in English, nonetheless. Um, yeah.

WORD OF CAUTION: IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA AND ACTUALLY INTEND ON SEEING IT, YOU MIGHT NOT WANT TO READ ON...

Anyway, so this movie didn't get very good reviews from critics, and a couple of my friends that saw it already didn't seem that impressed as well. I decided to go into the movie w/o any expectations. Good thing, b/c it really wasn't that great at all. Well, it's not a bad movie, but it's just not that good.

First of all, they REALLY should've done it in Japanese with Japanese actors, as the random English accents were a big distraction. I read the book in English, of course, but watching the characters say the dialogue in English was really strange. It somehow didn't fit. At one point, when Pumpkin (played by a Japanese American actress) spoke, I was thinking, "Wow, she sounds like she's from LA!" Sad thing is, she really IS from LA! I will not even get into the Chinglish...

Also, the movie ignores many of the subtleties which make the book what is it. Rob Marshall totally made this an Americanized version of what he thinks Japan to be. Like, there was no way that this movie was directed by a Japanese director. Some of the characters were SO out there...it was ridiculous, ie) Hatsumomo on crack w/ a bad hair stylist. The movie seemed way too Hollywood, trying to make Japan SO Japanese...I dunno how to put it in words, but yeah. I loved the book b/c the characters were smart, articulate, and deep...each with a purpose. In the movie, the characters were dramatic for the sake of being dramatic.

Another thing. It seemed fine in the book that Sayuri met the Chairman when she was only nine, and knew that she loved him from that moment? Anyway, maybe this all should've remained on paper, because watching Sayuri and the Chairman getting together while talking about the first time they met (when she was 9 years old and he was a grown adult), seemed child molester-ish to me. Maybe it's just me, but yeah, I had no problem with it IN the book.

Though I have to give credit to the lady who plays "Mother" b/c I thought she did an excellent job. Also, Zhang Ziyi (who plays Sayuri) was not bad at all. Her English was a lot better than I had expected. I've mainly seen her in action movies prior to this, so it was a nice surprise to see that she can actually act. A Chinese actress that can act....imagine that. Kay, I'm not hating on Chinese actors but you should see some of the so-called "actors" in Hong Kong. Sad, indeed!

Overall, this was not a bad movie, but it certainly did not embody the essence of the book. Anyway, it's pretty at least. So yeah, go judge for yourself. Just don't go in expecting anything great.

Thought of the day:

I know I'm not the only one slowly getting poisoned to death from the freakin' kerosene heaters at school, right? I literally had to open the window for a breath of air while my JTE was teaching today. I don't know how they do it, but I swear some of the kids looked like they were gonna pass out as well.