I was looking forward to seeing this film, expecting fairly competent work by the director and cast. Not really - a dialogue delivered in barely understandable English with thick Chinese accent is anything but authentic. The accents of the actresses are wrong, their intonations are wrong, the dances are wrong, their manners are wrong - in short, this film just screams "Fake!". I do not pretend to understand Japanese culture all that well, but still I work for a Japanese company, have been to Japan a few times, and work with Japanese colleagues every day, so if the film looks so fake to me, I can only imagine how it would look like to people that come from this culture or are deeply familiar with it. This is very regrettable, given the reputation of the director and the capabilities and budget of the studio that produced the film. Was it that hard to cast Japanese actors, and hire competent consultants? The only saving grace is Ken Watanabe's play (which is, however, not central to the plot), and the stunningly beautiful scenery and cinematography, which won a fully deserved Oscar. The rest, however, was hugely disappointing.
Review of Memoirs of a Geisha
