Based on the well known novel of the same name by Arthur Golden, Memoirs of a Geisha is the story of a woman named Chiyo from a poor fishing village sold to a Kyoto geisha house in 1929 at the age of nine. There, she's treated cruelly until her stunning beauty prompts rescue by a woman named Mameha. Under her tutelage, she becomes a Geisha of great renown, amidst the looming specter of approaching World War II.

Our obsession with Asian culture continues unabated, and that’s a good thing since that means more Ken Watanabe. Watanabe got the shaft in Batman Begins, but hopefully the underappreciated actor will get more screen time in Memoirs of a Geisha. Geisha is packed with some of the best talent from Asian non-Bollywood cinema. Besides Last Samurai’s Watanabe, the film has the prolific and beautiful Ziyi Zhang and the greatness of Michelle Yeoh. The book Geisha is based on is heavy drama, and the film’s release date smacks of heavy Oscar baiting. Can a movie about a Chinese hooker featuring an American free cast sweep up at the Academy Awards? This year, there’s not much competition. What’ll be interesting is whether or not the movie gets a seriously wide release. Right now it’s opening against The Chronicles of Narnia, stiff competition for a serious drama to play against. It’s also listed as opening wide, but does that mean 1000 theaters wide or 3000? Big difference. The film has been kicking around in production forever, and while it might seem like the sort of thing that should open in limited release and expand slowly, maybe Sony is just ready to kick it out and see if it’ll fly. Maybe it’ll be this year’s Cold Mountain.

More Memoirs of a Geisha info Cinema Blend News (BNN)

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