I honestly didn't realize this movie is considered a bad film...

Eh, I consider the book somewhat of a guilty pleasure and the movie was a poor imitation. It was beautifully done, but that was pretty much it.

I loved the book AND I thought the movie was fabulous! One of the most overtly romantic, for me, and a gorgeously lush production. As a lifelong fan of film, most particularly Oscar worthy ones, I was horrified that this wasn't better received by critics and the public but then...look how many dopey films make tons of $$.

It's mainly considered bad by critics. But it seems audiences are much more accepting. A 7.2 on imdb means this is considered to be a very good film. The highest films are rated 8.something. It also got back almost $160 million on its $80 million budget. Not spectacular, but by no means a financial flop.

Who cares what critics think anyway? It's not them watching the movie, it's you. If you enjoy it, anyone else's opinion is irrelevant.

Rotten Tomatoes is just that........They STINK! I have this movie recorded on my DVR and I watch it from time to time. It's one of my favorite love stories. I've never read the book, but still want to. I have to find a copy. I can't get enough of this movie.

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In my humble opinion, the movie's nothing spectacular. The music, casting (for the most part), costumes, cinematography and the editing are beautifully done, but the story is lacking. I say this because I've read the books a few times now, and it's very obvious that when converting it into a movie, they thought it would be better to make it melodrama. There's almost no melodrama in the book whatsoever. Everything that happens happens in a subtle way. No offence to the screenwriter or the director, they probably just didn't know how to bring the emotion to the movie without creating drama.

In MY opinion, the old Sayuri should have been introduced in the beginning of the film, telling the translator her story. And then we should have gone through a sequence of flashbacks. Which is kind of what they did, but there was seriously no mention of her life AFTER her and the Chairman got together. I think actually introducing Old Sayuri into the plot would have helped this. People who've only seen the movie have no idea about the illegitimate child that they had, her moving to New York, none. I think the mention of those things would help remind the viewers that this is no fairytale. They glamourize it too much in a "And they lived happily ever after" type ending. I mean yes, they do say that "geisha are the wives of nightfall" but it's so subtle that people are still left thinking that it's cute. It's not really cute. After reading the book you feel happy for Sayuri that she found her definition of solace, but you still understand that it's not very happy or easy to be a geisha/ woman in 1930/40s Japan. You hardly got that sour note in the movie. I think that's what makes the book so addicting. It's a tale about a girl who lives a brutally unfair life finding happiness under her circumstances. In the movie you get a little of that, but not nearly enough.

As I said earlier, it was an absolutely BEAUTIFUL movie. It slips in story/ script. Which are pretty detrimental things to flub up.

All my opinion, of course.

~*~
I mean it's crazy. We finish each others sandwiches.

I was surprised with the reaction, too, because I love this story/film. Everybody has their own opinion, so, we can't complain when something doesn't work for someone. 9/10.


"Did you make coffee...? Make it!"--Cheyenne.