Review: Memoirs of a Geisha

Foreign language films shown in Britain have generally endured rigerous criticism and analysis before reaching our screens. Only the excellent films are choosen by American production companies because they generate considerably less income. I enjoied Crouching Tiger, Hero and House of flying daggers so the trailer for Memoirs of a Geisha intrgued me. But Memoirs of a Geisha is not a foreign language film. I was very surprised when they started speaking in heavily accented English which soon turned to annoyance when I just couldn't understand them. It became particuarly surreal when a group of American soilders were introduced to the story; language barriers were ignored and all the characters conversed fluently in English without any difficulty.

You could tell that a lot of money had been thrown at this film. The cast included several high profile actors from the aformentioned Manderin films and the director has recieved critical aclaim for his previous picture: Chicago. Unfortunatly it was a wasted investment. This film was so rubish I won't bore you with details about the "plot". It completly lacked pace and seemed to be never ending. If you're going to make a film set in Japan then fim it in Mandarin. Don't see this film.