With that in mind, I give the film an A. Will I recommend it to others? Definitely. Will I be willing to watch it again with friends? In a heartbeat. These flaws didn't overshadow the fact that what was put on screen worked for me. It lasted only about 30 seconds, while doubling that and making it more mesmerizing would have made the whole middle act more effective. The big dance scene had excellent buildup, but the execution of the dance felt flat. In addition, the Mother character is over-the-top and didn't fit the emotional aspect the film quite well, although she did provide some comical moments. Except for some verbal back-and-forth between the two and a few dirty tricks from Gong, there was no reason to believe why she was the most famous geisha in Japan before Ziyi arrived. Gong did all she could, but the script didn't allow her to be a worthy opponent. I also want to see more ups and downs for the competition between Ziyi and Gong Li. It is a Cinderella story at heart, but the good and evil are too clear-cut and lack dimension. The main problem I have is with character development. It's much more of an ensemble piece, and I was especially impressed by the young Sayuri and Ken Watanabe. Talking about performances, I think almost all of them did well.

Gong Li had a few awkward lines at the beginning, and Ziyi had more and is the one who had to try the hardest, but both pulled off admirably and didn't hurt their performances in the process. I was expecting a lot of unpleasant broken English to be spoken, but they all sounded fine to good, not just from the most fluent Michelle Yeoh, but Ken Watanabe, Youki Kudoh (who plays Pumpkin) and other supporting casts.

As for the accents, the problem has definitely been exaggerated. I normally don't like voice-over, but here it really held the movie together and helped to move the story along. The story also never dragged, as each of the three parts flowed nicely.

It's worth seeing for the big screen experience alone. The music score isn't as haunting as the one in CTHD, but it is still masterfully composed and fits in the background very well. The retro-mood it created had me immensed in the world of geisha from beginning to the end. First I echo the sentiment that the film is simply technically perfect. However, I'm happy to say it turns out to be one of more satisfying movie experiences of the year. Going into the film, I had worries with all the slamming critics have given, even though I didn't read all of them in details.

The geisha book