Memoirs of a Geisha

I finally watched the Memoirs of a Geisha last night.

It wasn't as good as I expected. The reviews did rave about the lovely scenery (most of it sets in Hollywood though; the production only took place in Japan for very few scenes) and the oh-so-gorgeous kimonos, which I totally agree. However, the plot was thin, the scenes after which Hatsumomo left (played by Gong Li), were bland. The movie was over 2 hours in length, and it was just my luck that I had to sit at the second row FROM the screen. I came out of the cinema with a bad crick in the neck, that I'll tell you. I reckon the best actor in the entire movie was Gong Li. She portrayed the uber-bitch Hatsumomo fantastically, albeit the blips in her English. Zhang Zi Yi, who played the heroine, Sayuri, was fresh in playing English-speaking roles, but I'd give her credit for her teary performance (when she cried, her blue-gray contact lenses really made her eyes look like huge, wet dinner plates). Michelle Yeoh, who played Mameha, was disappointingly bland.

All in all, it was an okay movie. I wouldn't mind watching it again, just for the lovely kimonos. Apparently, over 200 different kimonos were used in the movie. Wow.