"Meh-moirs of a Geisha"

Not much going on with "Memiors of a Geshia", an American-directed, Chinese-starring, Japanese-costumed period piece. One thing's for sure, though: the budget (and Spielberg's producing) bought some very nice cinemetography and very pretty art direction. Colors, scenery, sets and costumes were all quite lavish and, well, pretty.

Wong Kar Wai's work has a lot more in the "pretty" and "lavish" department, not to mention far more interesting story and character portrayal. "Memiors" kept me at a distance, even though it seemed that it wanted to be far more intimate. But the general distaste for the overt societal slavery that a geisha was subjected to, the injustice of it all, wasn't enough to bring any more direct sympathy to the characters. It was all very much just an intellectual enterprise at that level. Drama and "moments" rely on just a little more than that to really bring you into it. Too bad.