'Memoirs' is a memorable experience

If "King Kong" was the greatest visual spectacle in the digital world last year, then "Memoirs of a Geisha" would be its non-digital counterpart -- a wonderful creation that takes the viewer into a long forgotten world of absolute beauty and artistic splendor. \nBased on the best-selling fiction novel by Arthur Golden, "Geisha" tells of Sayuri, a fisherman's daughter sold to a geisha house after her parents can no longer support her. At first known to us as Chiyo (a promising debut by 12-year-old Suzuka Ohgo), her struggles with this new lifestyle seem an impossible task to achieve. Tortured at every turn by her older stepsister and head geisha Hatsumomo (Gong Li -- absolutely venomous in her American acting debut), she grows into Sayuri (Ziyi Zhang in her best performance to date), a girl soon to become the most praised geisha in the entire city. She endures all of this for one reason alone: the love and attention of the chairman (a warm Ken Watanabe, "The Last Samurai") who once helped her up after falling so hard. \nHelmed by "Chicago" mastermind Rob Marshall in the directing chair, an incredibly talented pan-Asian cast and a score composed by John Williams with support from Yo-Yo Ma and Itzhak Perlman, could the film really go wrong? \n"Geisha" does have its faults but they're simply nitpicks. The film tends to drift between English and small pieces of Japanese and why at one point someone would say "Hello" and the next say "Konnichiwa" baffles me, as both mean the same. There are also moments where the soapy bubbles of melodrama arise, yet they only slow down the film in places rather than bring it to a laughable roadblock. I have mentioned many strong points, but the strongest is cinematographer Dion Beebe who claimed his Oscar for "Geisha" a month ago. His photography is breathtaking -- he captures natural beauty one moment, dreamlike the next, such as the surreal snowfall dance Sayuri performs. \nWith 11 featurettes spanning two-hours, there's plenty to dig into on the DVD, each of them satisfying. "Building the Hanamachi" tells how difficult it is to recreate pre-WWII Japan, "The Look of a Geisha" details the rigorous preparations one goes through to become a human work of art. \nPersonal highlights were "Geisha Bootcamp" which shows the great lengths actresses go to when taking on such a part and "A Geisha's Dance," proof that geisha are not just sightly human statues but as graceful as the falling cherry blossom. Of course, Marshall's commentary track is a reward in itself -- if only Golden showed up for the ride. \nGive "Geisha" the viewing chance it deserves. It's sure to be a most memorable experience.