We went for a movie last night, a really, really, late movie. 12.25am kinda late to be exact. And it was of course, Memoirs of a Geisha. Frankly, the movie is a wee bit off course from the book at the start. They didn’t really introduce Sayuri’s family background, like the dad’s previous family who all of them died apparently in some tragic death, I think… was I reading the right book? I swear it was there. Anyway, in my view, it’s was to be a sentimental art movie with stunning visuals, costumes and cinematography. But it kinda turned main-stream halfway thru. And there’s a lot of raining scene which makes you think that Japan is pretty similar to London. Yeah, it’s the easiest way to portray suffering, misery and of course, the dramatic scenes when it’s raining. Easier for the actress too since they don’t have to force out tears.
But how can one take such movie seriously? I mean come on! Check out the accent man! Damn powderful man. The movie is so linguistically challenged that any English-educated person would laugh their heads off when anyone of them speaks. Michelle Yeoh is the only one in the main cast that has no problem speakingEngrish English of course. Malaysia Boleh!. And it’s weird that Sayuri’s friend, Pumpkin switches from archly Asian to fluid American-English accent so easily. And I hate when they speak Japanese all of a sudden and they are no subtitles for translation!
They might as well have made the movie in Japanese and have subtitles all the way. Hey, wait a minute; the lead actresses can’t speak it…hmmm, it makes you wonder why they got Chinese actresses to play what is quintessentially a Japanese story. And what’s up with the demented and demonic dance by Sayuri (played by Zhang Zi-Yi)? Do Japanese men fancy demented-ghost-like women in bed? What are they into man? Eeeks. I thought Geishas are elegant and fluid.
And the music doesn’t really evoke the right emotion. You would assume they couldn’t afford a composer so they just stole music scores from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon or something.
All in all, once you get over the riotous accent, it’s actually a good movie despite all that. The acting is good, couple of good comic scenes, the actresses did a good job portraying their characters, the cinematography is top notched in my opinion; maybe the storyline is a bit choppy and they often resort to clichés.
But how can one take such movie seriously? I mean come on! Check out the accent man! Damn powderful man. The movie is so linguistically challenged that any English-educated person would laugh their heads off when anyone of them speaks. Michelle Yeoh is the only one in the main cast that has no problem speaking
They might as well have made the movie in Japanese and have subtitles all the way. Hey, wait a minute; the lead actresses can’t speak it…hmmm, it makes you wonder why they got Chinese actresses to play what is quintessentially a Japanese story. And what’s up with the demented and demonic dance by Sayuri (played by Zhang Zi-Yi)? Do Japanese men fancy demented-ghost-like women in bed? What are they into man? Eeeks. I thought Geishas are elegant and fluid.
And the music doesn’t really evoke the right emotion. You would assume they couldn’t afford a composer so they just stole music scores from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon or something.
All in all, once you get over the riotous accent, it’s actually a good movie despite all that. The acting is good, couple of good comic scenes, the actresses did a good job portraying their characters, the cinematography is top notched in my opinion; maybe the storyline is a bit choppy and they often resort to clichés.
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