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DVD Features: Available Subtitles: English, French Available Audio Tracks: English (Dolby Digital 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 5.1) Commentary by director Rob Marshall and co-producer John DeLuca Production Commentary by Costume Design Colleen Atwood, Production Design John Myhre and Editor Pietro Scalia "Sayuri's Other Journey: From the Novel to the Screen" featurette - Novelist Arthur Golden and the filmmakers discuss the 8-year journey of turning the best-selling book into an award winning film. "The Road to Japan" featurette - the filmmakers travel to Japan to experience the places in Kyoto that are featured in the book and discuss the challenges of shooting in some of Japan’s most sacred locations. "Geisha Bootcamp" featurette - A behind the scenes look at how the actresses learned the art of becoming geisha. "Building the Hanamachi" featurette - Recreating the entire village of old Kyoto in a pasture in Southern California. "The Look of a Geisha" featurette - The most famous Geisha were considered to be the supermodels of their time, learn the ancient secrets and modern twists to creating their hair, makeup and wardrobe for the film. "The Music of Memoirs" featurette - John Williams, Yo-Yo Ma and Itzhak Perlman discuss the creative process of composing the Golden Globe® winning score. "A Geisha’s Dance" featurette - We'll follow the entire process of staging these dances, from research into authentic geisha dance (illustrated with the archival footage that served as inspiration) through conception, casting sessions, rehearsals, on-the-set rehearsals, filming, and the final version in the movie. "The World of the Geisha" featurette - A look at the history of this secret world, from its ancient origins up to the geisha of today. "The Way of the Sumo" featurette - Explore the fascinating history of this ancient sport and meet some of today’s Sumo Wrestling champions. "Rob Marshall" featurette - An in-depth look at Director Rob Marshall "A Day with Chef Nobu Matsuhisa" featurette - World-renowned Chef Nobu Matsuhisa discusses his role in Memoirs and shares some of his favorite recipes.Read full review
An outstanding Japanese cast, beautiful and haunting score enhanced by the ethereal Master Itzhak Perlman, unbelievable sets in Japan historically recreated (as most of that time are gone) when necessary, and a truthful but respectful view of the customs of that time concerning the Geisha. Director Rob Marshall, with the help and support of his Japanese, American and international team, portrays this story as a loving but bittersweet tribute to a long gone era. This would not have been accomplished without the genius of cinematographer Dion Beebe and all the set and costume design who were SPOT ON in this recreation of that bygone era. You will be truly moved never forget this one and it will forever remain in your heart. In my TOP 10 movies of all time! p.s. I am NOT a professional critic. Just an aficionado of worthy movies that move my soul.Read full review
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
'Memoirs of a Geisha' is an amazing novel, and having heard it was going to be made into a film starring Zhang Ziyi and Gong Li (one of my favourite actresses) I was very excited. What I found was a very stylish, beautifully shot costume drama that ultimately didn't have a lot to show for itself. The novel has a brilliant story and wonderful characters, but in this film the whole story was rushed and condensed, big parts of the novel were missing, and generally the way it was filmed seemed more focused on beautiful imagery and fancy direction rather than intimate storytelling. As a result, it didn't create anything like the drama of the book and I just felt that it was all style and no substance. In terms of acting, I feel that the film would have been better if they'd had Japanese actresses speaking their own language, or possibly Asian actresses who at least had a good grasp of English. It's not a great thing to say, but the fact is with acting you need to be able to use language effectively, and none of the actors in this film could do that. Their speech was slow, stunted and often mispronounced or misinterpreted words. I'm sure they're good actresses, but just the difficulty with which they spoke the language came across heavily on screen and I felt this crippled the drama somewhat. That said, I feel that 'Memoirs of a Geisha' is a very mediocre film. If you haven't read the book, than you may like it, if so then you're going to be seriously disappointed. This is an artistic, elaborate showcase of a film, it's not about people, the story is just a very mellow version of the book and the characters are butchered by actresses who can barely communicate coherently. It's all about pretty costumes and make-up and I left the cinema feeling very disappointed.Read full review
I wanted to see this movie when it was first released, because of the beautiful commercials and the fact that it was touted as a love story. It is a dark tale of a young girl and her sister that starts with their being sold by her father, as their mother lays dying. The two girls are then off to the big dirty city, bustling with seedy side of the dark mysterious underworld life of the geishas. There is much abuse from the women who own this young girl. Most people in this movie are very cruel and trapped in dire circumstances. The little Geisha-to-be gets her one break-if you could call it that when a wealthy man finds her attractive as a young child he spots in the street. He shows her one kind gesture-which she remembers all her life. He then has his Geisha girlfriend, watch out for the little girl, so he can one day be with her, when not with his wife. There are many dark twists and turn in this movie- for money or sex or both--but all done in very beautiful settings. So if you want to see a sad story beautifully filmed, buy this video. The scenes, the costumes the make-up are all fantastic.Read full review
Superb music and costumes depict this intriguing subject of the Geisha in Japanese culture. If I had not read the book first, I think the story line would have been difficult to follow, with explanations of Japanese terms and customs sometimes taken for granted. The gorgeous actresses, their dancing and clothing are exquisite! The harshness of this girl's young life takes her through tribulations to aspire to become a Geisha. Through her perils, her story of love and passion triumphs. Beauty and the haunting melodies make this movie memorable, well worth the watch!!!
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