Eddie's "memoirs" review

"If Mameha and others sternly warn Chiyo that geisha are not prostitutes, then why is Mameha so proud of selling her virginity and Chiyo’s?"

The geishas acted more as companions, and selling their "mizuage" (virginity) was more an aspect of being a geisha, than their whole underlying purpose. Unlike prostitutes, they often choose who they wish to sleep with. I thought this movie was faithful enough to the book, and Michelle Yeoh's performance was a standout.

But c'mon Eddie, a 4?

(p.s.: I really didn't see the need to attack Chicago, Renee Zellwegger, and Million Dollar Baby. It's not supposed to be a review of them, is it?)

"March of the Penguins" had Morgan Freeman only in R1. The rest of the world got a techno-synth score. The moviemakers hate the voiceover narration.

As for "Shawshank"...like I wrote, some voiceover narrations are good. Don't make me repeat myself again, Chris and Onijay. :)

Yeah, good ol' Hokey Carmichael. Now, there was a voice.

John

"Penguins" would have been a hell of a lot better without the hokey narration.

Imagine the Shawshank Redemption without Morgan's narration. Or March of the Penguins without any narration for that matter (;))

Plenty of v.o. narration is great. You just can't look it as a mere adjunct to storytelling. It's a novelistic device which creates another level of remove or, if you prefer, reflexivity. Some of the best narrations are, in fact, the ones which relate information which, on the surface, seems redundant relative to the image - Bresson was the master of this.

Sorry, I meant to write "can" instead of can't. Believe it or not I actually did enjoy your review.

Chris,

I wrote that most voiceover narrations are bad, not all. :)

Eddie

You never need a good reason to attack "Chicago." It's a good thing I wasn't around to write the review of that dog when it came out. As Eddie said it, it's the last film by the same director so it makes perfect sense to mention it in the review.

I think Eddie's general comments on voice-over are off-base because he only sees it as it relates to the plot rather than as an aesthetic device on its own, like a musical score. Whether the narration in "Memoirs" works from this perspective I have no idea.

Onijay,

Hey! We've been playing nice with each other for the past two months. What happened? :)

Eddie