Where the film falters, somewhat, is in trying to tie in all of the story lines once the last half hour arrives. I loved it because I've seen Ziyi and Yeoh play rivals in CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON and it was great to see them interact in a completely different way, one that indicates Mameha was the replacement for the sister Sayori lost, one who also lost a chance at love and happiness, and who only knows the life of a geisha. Also noteworthy is the relationship that Sayori develops with her mentor Mameha (Michelle Yeoh). Notice the way Hatsumomo lashes out like a snake: it also seems as if she would be ready to kiss her at any second. Hatsumomo explodes in rage against Sayori after being successfully put down the night of her debut that has hints a little of repressed lesbianism.

What does work is the subtext within the relationships between the two other women and Sayori, intended or not. They do meet later on, but the movie mutes their romance after she becomes the geisha Sayori (Zhang Ziyi), and in trying to keep him distant in a casual way - they don't share as much as a stilted conversation - somewhat works against the believability of their mutual but restrained love. The smile he coaxes out her sad face is the most luminous moment in the entire film, and this event makes Chiyo want to become a better person and reunite with the Chairman. One touching scene, which becomes the focus of Chiyo's drive, is when she encounters this 'prince' of a man, the Chairman (Ken Watanabe).

It even evolves in a similar manner, and its more effective moments are the ones involving Chiyo as a girl (Suzuka Ohgo) becoming friends (and later enemies) with Pumpkin, not understanding why she is in this strange house, why she has been separated from her sister whom she frantically tries to seek out, or why the geisha Hatsumomo (Gong Li) is so mean to her. The tale of Chiyo, the little girl who is sold by her mother to a geisha house, her trials and tribulations, her knowledge and yearning of true love and success as a geisha is almost identical to the Dickensian universe. MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA has a lot of Charles Dickens in its storyline. So having Rob Marshall, a very American director, step in, is a risk, and for two-thirds of the picture he mutes the frenetic editing and lurid visuals used in CHICAGO, slows the pace of the narration, and achieves the goal in making his vision look as authentic as possible. Asian dramas - even the ones involving fantasy fighting - have a certain lushness and a complex texture that I believe only Asian directors can truly capture.

Ken watanabe memoirs of a geisha