will the real japanese geisha please take a bow
I'd forgotten what Li Gong looked like, I haven't seen her for so long since possibly Farewell My Concubine, as I clearly failed to recognize her in this film and 2046. Part of the problem with Memoirs of a Geisha was that it was cast with Chinese women playing Japanese geisha, save one. Although I enjoyed Li Gong the most for being a convincing Japanese geisha that you love to hate, the confusing accents with hard to understand lines was a bit bothersome as being unfamiliar with the geisha tradition, I'm hanging on every word that's being said to piece together the entire culture, history, and story, because, no, I did not read the book. I rather like Ziyi, and she seems to have taken Li's place in the Chinese film world and she was intresting in 2046, but she just shuffled around looking like an alien for the most part with the blue contact lenses in her eyes, which were not as blue as the poster would have us believe and were very distracting from her acting which was probably good but not as outstanding as Li. I like the story, the bittersweetness that is life, but it did not feel, dare i say, "Asian", or rather, it did not feel like a Japanese story. I can't put a finger on it. Perhaps I'm not used to Japanese/Chinese accented English dailogue that doesn't flow smoothly as the native toungue in subtitles? The landscapes weren't as focused and sweeping and looked set designed? Most of the women were Chinese? The story was written and directed both by Americans? Did I mention that I do like the story though?
One thing for sure, if Sayuri and Hatsumomo were to go head to head, Hatsumomo would win in my book! Oh, and thanks to Marie and her Mom for the tickets so that I could talk trash about the film!
12:07 AM | |
