Memoirs

"Every step I have taken has been to bring myself closer to you..."

My blog is increasingly becoming a movie review site. Mmm... perfect results of a movie fanatic.

Last Friday I went to watch Memoirs of a Geisha, the much disputed film, with the Chinese and Japanese shunning it due to cultural and historical reasons. The Japanese accused the film maker to be insulting Japanese Culture, the depiction of Geishas is untrue and they took it negatively.

On the other hand, the Chinese criticised the three chinese female cast as traitors of their own country by portraying their historical enemy, the Japanese.

Mmm...a simple movie with an innocent storyline, I can't understand why these people have to take advantage of it to express selfish, irresponsible comments.

Before I step into the cinema, I was anticipating for a meaningful show with ummm... boring parts. Considering it was already midnight, I might need to focus really hard to understand the essence.

Surprisingly throughout the movie, I was not bored for a single moment. The show was smoothly arranged, well directed and easy to follow.

I must praise the three female chinese casts on their splendid acting especially Gong Li and Zhangzhiyi.

My gain from the movie is about Faith. Sayuri lived a life with no choises it seems. She was sold and forced to be a geisha. She was forced to be a slave to the "Mother" after she failed to escape. But she held on to a faith, a dream: to be with the Chairman. This faith brought her choises she could never dream of, and a purpose. As she says, "Every step I have taken has been to bring myself closer to you..."

Life is a dream, all memories chained together in a strange way. Somethings we remember clearly and some do not. Sometimes when I looked back, I have not recognized the paths that I have taken. But where I stand now is a result of my previous choise.

Am I straying further and further away from my destination? Is every step I take brings me closer to where I wanna be?

Eventhough I enjoy the show in overall, but I am still very much disgusted with the love of the Chairman and Sayuri. Not that their huge gap in age, but the idea of the 30-40 year old chairman falling in love at first sight with a 9 year old girl. Perverted old man!

Anyway, Great show worth 2 hours and 15 minutes of my time.

Official Movie Site: http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/memoirsofageisha/