Memoirs of Geisha

Well, Rob Marshall did it again. With a little help from Executive Producer, Steven Speilberg and a phenomenal cast; Marshall has created a masterpiece.

This hauntingly beautiful film leaps off the screen.

The film adaptation of Arthur Golden's best-selling novel Memoirs of a Geisha was met with mixed reaction at its world premiere in Tokyo Tuesday, amid concerns about its portrayal of Japanese culture. Despite much anticipation, the project has drawn criticism from different camps in Japan and China. (Which we at The Hollywood Bureau think is a load of crap.......but we will let them state their opinion!)

In Japan, critics have questioned whether a Hollywood movie can accurately depict the nuanced culture of geishas – the women trained from childhood in music, dance and conversation in order to be elegant companions to wealthy men. In the past, geishas have been portrayed outside the country as nothing more than glorified prostitutes.

Director Rob Marshall, whose last film project was the Oscar-winning musical Chicago, has defended the cast during recent media events in advance of the premiere. "I have a very simple philosophy about casting, and that is: cast the best person for the role," Marshall told reporters Tuesday. "The demands were enormous and Ziyi Zhang was the best."

At a press conference Monday, Zhang herself stressed that it's a milestone for a Hollywood film to have a largely Asian cast. She also said that the film is an amazing opportunity to showcase the skills of Asian actors before a worldwide audience.

The lavish, joint U.S.-Japan production, which was at one point to be directed by Steven Spielberg, tells the story of a poor fisherman's daughter sold into life as a geisha. She rises to become one of the most celebrated geishas in 1920s Kyoto.

Before filming, the actresses in Geisha submitted to a sort of "geisha boot camp" for six weeks in an attempt to quickly acquire skills that took real geishas a lifetime to develop.

Arthur Golden's 1997 novel in which the film is based spent two years on the New York Times bestseller list and sold millions of copies.

The film opens in limited release December 9th - DON'T MISS THIS FILM EXPERIENCE!!!