Geisha films (E+J)

[Wei Ting Jen]

Good point. But that may well be a flaw of the book, rather than the
movie. That may have been why it was so painful to read - no richly
textured moments of silence, the dramatic action too extravagant, the
plot too grandiose and sweeping. That's not to say of course that
Japanese stories lack drama, rather the drama lies in what you don't
sense or see on first reading.

And is it just me? But I find the variation of English accents
extremely jarring on my ears - something I've noticed from Crouching
Tiger Hidden Dragon (which featured a panoply of Chinese accents -
mainland, Malaysian, Hong Kong-ese - which to me is one big reason why
so many Chinese people I know didn't like the movie). I may just be
more sensitive to this, but it sounds extremely odd to hear on the
same sound stage Malaysian, Japanese, and Chinese accented English....

Wei Ting


On 3/9/06, Alexander Jacoby <a_p_jacoby at yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
>
> Memoirs of a Geisha - I saw it the other week too. It's OK, but suffers from
> one of the prevalent vices of modern commercial filmmaking - so much
> jittering camera movement and rapid cutting that one isn't given time to
> appreciate the art direction or acting. Also, it failed my number one test
> for Western representations of Japanese characters - too many characters who
> talk explicitly and openly about their feelings. This has been an annoying
> trait of Western stories about Japan forever.
>
> ALEX
>
>
>  ________________________________
> Yahoo! Messenger NEW - crystal clear PC to PC calling worldwide with
> voicemail
>
>


--
"The other ambassadors warn me of famines, extortions, conspiracies,
or else they inform me of newly discovered turquoise mines,
advantageous prices in marten furs, suggestions for supplying
damascened blades. And you?" the Great Khan asked Polo, "you return
from lands equally distant and you can tell me only the thoughts that
come to a man who sits on his doorstep at evening to enjoy the cool
air. What is the use, then, of all your traveling?"
-- Italo Calvino, "Invisible Cities"