“She paints her face to hide her face. 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.ā
I have seen the Memoirs of a Geisha several times. It is one of those movies that leave you breathless, in a deeply philosophical state of mind. I love beautiful things and this is a beautiful movie. The actors, the costumes, the narrative, the story in general. It contains a lot of everything- love, loyalty, strength, wisdom, painā¦
The movie shows the transformation of the fisherās daughter Chio into the legendary geisha Sayuri- a pathĀ full of pain and sacrifices, of love and duty. As a young girl, Chio is sold by her father to a geisha house and isĀ separated from her sister whoās soldĀ to another okiyaĀ in Hanamachi. The little Chio is incredibly beautiful since an early age, having the rare for a Japanese girl blue eyes. Her features and qualities determine herĀ a very successful nenki (career as a geisha). However, this doesnāt stay unnoticed by one of the most popular geishas in Hanamachi who happens to live in the same okiya as Chio- Hatsumomo. She sees in the little girl a serious competitor and does all her best to stop her from becoming a geisha. But when Chio is 16 another legendary geisha- Mameha- takes her under her wing and helps her to transform from the little, frightened girl Chio into the beautiful and most desired geisha in Hanamachi, Sayuri. However, Sayuri does something that is absolutely forbidden for geishas- falls in loveā¦
What I love about the Memoirs of a Geisha is the wisdom it teaches. The narrative is so beautifully written, it makes you feel the emotions of the characters as your own. The most emotional moment for me was when Chio lost everything and realised the only home she had was this same okiya she was desperately trying to escape. The moment of pain is so beautifully and realistically recreated that you just canāt stay indifferent to it.Ā āAt the temple, there is a poem called āLossā carved into the stone. It has three words, but the poet has scratched them out. You cannot read loss, only feel it.āĀ
Fate is something many people deny. We like to think we have control over everything, especially over our very lives. However, no one can escape their fate. Whatever we do we always go towards it, one way or anotherā¦
āIf you keep your destiny in mind, every moment in life becomes an opportunity for moving closer to it.ā
L. V. K.
