1 post tagged “golden”
I've been inspired by NYCinephile. We've taken to discussing movies as of late, and following his suggestion, I'm going to do something a little different. RPM: Random Perspectives on Movies. A play on my blog name, I'm going to occasionally share with you the twisted meanderings of my movie watching mind. I look forward to boring engaging you with my perspectives on some of the movies I love, and why. Be warned...sometimes, I can like some really awful flicks. Don't say I didn't warn ya.
Memoirs of a Geisha.
There's nothing more uncomfortable then trying to avoid an evolution. Sometimes you have to just let it happen even if you're not sure you know where you are gonna wind up. Better yet, you're sure you know where you're going to wind up, but you have no clue how that's going to happen.
I was watching Memoirs of a Geisha for the billionth time last night. I can watch any movie I really liked many more times then I will ever admit. While the movie deviated quite a bit from the amazing book by Arthur Golden, once I got over my disappointment in that, I found the movie to be quite rewarding. (A crush on Ken Watanabe helped that along). I've always been fascinated by Asian culture. It's history, the mystical traditions, the stoic surface of some of the mannerisms and the overwhelming emotions and passions that lie silent beneath them. Some of my favorite authors and books have explored varying elements of the culture and its evolution over the passage of time.
Memoirs follows the story of Sayuri, a girl from modest and heartbreaking beginnings who becomes the most famous and celebrated Geisha of the World War II era.
Her eyes are deep water. It is not for Geisha to want. It is not for geisha to feel. Geisha is an artist of the floating world. She dances, she sings. She entertains you, whatever you want. The rest is shadows, the rest is secret.
I loved that line. Early on in the film (explained a bit further in the novel), Chiyo (Sayuri's pre-Geisha name) was told by her mother that she was "water." She took that at first (in my opinion) to be a bit of an insult, assuming the element of water to be something erratic, constantly changing. You love her character as a child because she is passionate, tender and intelligent. She sees, she feels but she hesitates. Early and often. She simply doesn't know her own strength or endurance. In some instances she rails against tradition with her expression and fierce adherance to what she wants...in other respects she silently follows the rules. At varying times, you see her character draw so deeply within herself that you would expect to see her vanish right before your eyes. You see more of that in the book, naturally.
As water, she begins her life rushing haphazardly. Flailing, wild and almost uncontrolled in her emotion, her expression and her wants. Over time you see her evolve in the most melancholy sort of way. She learns the cruel art of detachment. Accepting some hardships, learning from all of them, never losing her determination or her will, but harnessing it to create the circumstances she needs to acquire what she wants. Of course, she has help along the way...but the notion of the strength of water, its ability to wear away the pains of an existence to create a polished exterior is very eloquently woven through both the book and the movie. We watch her slip inside herself, keeping what is most dear to her away from the world as if to protect a fragile dream she suspects is too unreal to embrace. She will embrace it anyway. Finally, she resigns herself to take no action, detaching in a way most of us can relate to (admittedly or not):
The heart dies a slow death, shedding each hope like leaves. Until one day there are none.
Kills me. Everytime. Although Sayuri gets a version of a happy ending, it comes only after she's released her grip on it. And she gets a modest version, which demonstrates to the audience her willingness to acknowledge to embrace the mixed blessing. You get the sense that she is strong enough to bear the weight of what she's asked for though it may not seem like much of a gift from a western perspective.
There is nothing more worthwhile, foolish, rewarding and sometimes punishing then following your heart. It's the most courageous thing you can ever do...because most times, you will follow it unbeknownst to the world around you. In secret, because I think for most of us...me especially...we're terrified to show people our most true desires.
