23rd January 2018

Memoirs of a geisha

In lesson today we analysed the film 'memoirs of a geisha'

I have already seen this film back in 2013 but i interpenetrated it a lot differently now as i am a lot older.

The film has a cultural hybrid . It is set in the 1920s, Chiyo (Suzuka Ohgo) gets sold to a geisha house. She is forced into servitude, receiving nothing in return until she gradually moves up in the hierarchy and eventually becomes a geisha herself. After many hard years of training, Chiyo becomes Sayuri (Ziyi Zhang), a geisha known for beauty and influence.

I enjoyed this film because of the shock factor. It was also very moving and the cinematography was insane! They used a variety of different shorts throughout the film that were beautiful, i was keeping my eye out for the different techniques used that i could possibly include in my upcoming work.

Most shorts were filmed with a shallow depth of field, an extremely blurred background allows all the focus to be on the face. The geisha's are painted white with hair slicked back in different styles, usually wearing red lipstick and a Kimono. It is very important that all of these features are picked up by the audience which is why i think they used a sharp depth of field to create a clear focal point and highlight their costume.

I particularly admired the use of panning shots. Going from a close up and panning outwards usually into the distance. This was particularly effective in the beginning scenes where Chiyo is portrayed as overwhelmed. These kind of shots highlight how small and out of control she feels living in such an extreme environment. The over head shots also portray she has so little power as the camera appears to be towering over her representing the hierarchy in the household. This shows how distinct the difference is between a Mameha, Gesha and Maiko.

Overall, i would definitely recommend this film as it expresses a range of different emotions and makes you feel so many things which could interest a wide range of people. As a film maker the cinematography is so fascinating to watch because every shot is so different. The colours and the costume are also massive factors within the film to create a representation of culture. The film opened my eyes to things i wouldn't necessarily of known about before watching it, i found it very interesting to see a completely different way of life in such a raw light.