Memoirs of a geisha - english sumary

Bestselling books have a built in audience, making them very attractive to film producers. Often, when Hollywood adapts a popular bestseller to the screen, they are unable to capture the magic of the book.

Such is the case with "Memoirs of a Geisha", the new film directed by Rob Marshall ("Chicago") based on the enormously popular book by Arthur Golden. Many, many, many people read and loved the book, which seems odd considering an American male wrote the book, a true testament to the writer's skill. He so successfully made the reader believe he was simply translating the life story of a real Geisha, we ate it up. He brilliantly evoked the time, place and feel of the period, giving us a glimpse of Japan just before the War. It was a great, interesting book.

"Memoirs of a Geisha" did not translate as well to the screen as the loyal fans of the book might have hoped. The film looks great, but it doesn't capture the life of Sayuri (Ziyi Zhang) as well, making her a living, breathing human being.

Unable to care for their children, their parents sell Chiyo and her sister, Tanaka, to a Geisha house. Arriving at the house, the sisters are split up and Chiyo grudgingly begins to accept her new life as a housemaid for the domineering Mother. Soon, Hatsumomo (Gong Li, "Raise the Red Lantern", "Farewell, My Concubine"), the Geisha in the house, takes a disliking to Chiyo and proceeds to make her life hell. Soon, Chiyo is off to Geisha school, but events cause her to become an indentured servant within the house. One day, while out doing errands, she meets the Chairman (Ken Watanabe, "The Last Samurai"). Years later, Chiyo (Ziyi Zhang, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", "House of Flying Daggers", "Rush Hour 2") has grown up and Mameha (Michelle Yeoh, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", "Tomorrow Never Dies"), a leading Geisha, takes her under her wing to train her.

There are two significant problems hindering the film. The first is Ziyi Zhang. She is certainly a