Even though the book has been out for years and the movie came out over a year ago, if my memory serves, I have needed this much time to digest everything and I now feel compelled to jot down my thoughts on Memoirs’ of a Geisha. I watched the movie for the second time just today, in an effort to give it a second chance since it’s been over a year since I finished the book and saw the movie the first time and left the theater with a frown on my face as my brain rapidly processed all the things that were wrong.
Now… I realize this is old news and I am probably not going to say anything that hasn’t been said somewhere… by somebody…. A fan or a critic so if this bores you, sorry. Plus, I am a bit tired tonight and am nearing the point of no return insanity thanks to the household animals so, unfortunately, this may not be my best work as far as voicing my attitudes in an articulate and fascinating fashion.
I read the book early 2006 and was utterly enamored with it from the moment little Chiyo arrived to mother and auntie. I could feel the presence of grannie and I could see her ugly teeth and hear her crackly voice. When mother came into the scene, I could smell the smoke from her pipe. Ooohhhh… and the kimonos. The way the author writes of them…. It’s like I could have reached out and touched their loveliness and silken softness. Only, I wouldn’t want to soil their exquisiteness with a touch from a common hand, such as my own.
And that Hatsumomo and her malevolent and horrible tendencies, yet I wanted to read more, more, MORE about her, especially once she got ahold of naïve and eager little Pumpkin. Nobu was near gruesome in my mind , as I believed the book made him out to be and, of course, the handsome Chairman was quaint and enchanting. I could go on but anyone who has read the book knows what I’m talking about and if they appreciated and enjoyed this story, they will probably agree.
It’s an understatement when I say that the movie didn’t live up to the book and rarely do they, I suppose. **On a side note, I will say that while I have my disappointments about the movie of Memoirs’, I still prefer it to the Da Vinci Code film, which I have absolutely no desire to sit through again. I have already lost 2 1/2 hours of my life that I'll never get back. And when/if Angels and Demons ever makes it the big screen and especially since I prefered that book to The DaVinci Code, I have learned from the first go around to sit that one out for there was never a bigger disappointment between book and movie for me.
Fool me once, shame on you…but fool me twice….
Okay, stepping away from the sidenote and back to the film at hand. I left the theater the first time I saw it bitching and moaning about how I just didn’t like it. I mean, I understand that if a movie were to be made exactly like the book, it could possibly be hours upon hours in length so I get that some things need to be cut and consolidated. Fine. So long the storyline is the same, I’m okay with that. But… what the movie lacked was something so incredibly simple and this alone would have made me perk up a bit. It lacked vividness. It lacked fervor. There was no element of fabulousness.
The cherry blossoms, though pretty, were not nearly as spectacular as they were in my head as I strolled down that same path with the Chairman. I was truly disappointed in the dance scene in the movie with Sayuri as the dance had little oomph and it didn’t possess that, as they say, je ne sais pas that I thought it should have because… in the book…. for cryin' out loud, I wanted to become Sayuri’s danna after “seeing” her on that stage... with her seemingly unattainable splendor. The scene in the movie, I just thought looked….. weird.
Details were absent in the film. While the kimonos looked lovely on the girls, there was no explanation of them. I felt like, oh… there is the kimono on the girl now… as if it had just popped into place like a Polly Pocket outfit. So little was shown about the art of getting dressed as a geisha. There simply was not much presentation in it, when in actuality, it was quite the splendid event. The makeup… part of the joy of reading the book was understanding the entire costume, especially for those of us who are... um... not of the geisha lifestyle. Why did just a hint of bare skin peek out from the nape from underneath all that thick, white makeup? In the movie, there was little explanation about their hair styles and what makes one different than another based on the “levels of geisha”. Thankfully, I had read the book and knew all of these hidden, fascinating secrets. I felt sorry for the people who were watching the movie without having read the book. But, I guess what they don't know won't hurt them. Right?
Eh, I’m over it. I will say that after watching the movie the second time, I wasn’t AS disappointed with it, I guess. Because I wasn’t comparing it every second of every moment to the book, which was clearly more visually stimulating and wonderful, if my little opinion means anything at all.
I guess the moral is:
never read the book if you want to enjoy the movie.
What lies within our own mind's eye is far more superb than
what Hollywood can ever hope to replicate.
2 comments:
1) You have made me want to read Memoirs of a Geisha. I think I'll make that my summer project.
2) I went through exactly the same thing with The Devil Wears Prada, right down to appreciating the movie more the second time around. I still prefer the book, though.
I read the book but haven't seen the movie yet. I'm a little disappointed that the brilliance of Hollywood decided to cast Chinese actors in all the major roles despite the fact they are Japanese. NOT ALL ASIAN PEOPLE ARE THE SAME!
The book was good and I loved it, but I was so disappointed that Sayuri never learned to love Nobu. She was constantly disgusted by his appearance despite the fact he took better care of her than anyone in her life. It was like Pretty In Pink -- she ended up with the wrong guy. How about that? I just compared Memoirs of a Geisha to Pretty In Pink. I'm going to hell for that.
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