I will admit I did not read the Arthur Golden book of the same name before viewing this film. By not reading it I believe I may have enjoyed the film more than if I had read the book as by my wife’s account (she read the book) there is a lot of the book that was left out. My wife liked the film, so for those of you that have read the book all is not lost. So anyway.

Memoirs of a Geisha is the story of Chiyo who is sold by her family into a geisha house. Geisha are “not” prostitutes in the traditional sense but well if you pay for sex, you pay for sex. The film though defines a geisha as an artist, an artist whom uses her body to entertain wealthy male clients. Chiyo is thrust into being trained as a geisha and with the help of the top Geisha Mameha (Michelle Yeoh), Chiyo is transformed from a little girl into the most famous of Geisha renamed Sayuri (Ziyi Zhang).

The story follows Sayuri from the selling of her virginity to the highest bidder, through the war and into a new Japan where the old ways have been left behind. Sayuri falls in love with the Chairman (Ken Wantanabe) although neither can show their love for the other.

The movie is beautiful and the acting is solid. Director Rob Marshall does a decent job in getting in as much story as he can and it left me wanting to read the book.

The film is currently playing in area theatres.

******** of 10

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