Customer Reviews

Memoirs of a Geisha: A Portrait of the Film

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
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Arthur Golden's best-selling novel Memoirs Of A Geisha has been made into a movie and premieres nation-wide December 9th. This New Market Pictorial Movie Book is a vivid, colorful coffee-table book with photo stills from the movie, behind-the-scenes info and ancient "Floating World" illustrations of the world of the Geisha. In addition to lovely photography and artwork, we are treated to informative, brief essays about the history of the Geisha and how author Arthur Golden came to write the novel. The film looks promising. Certainly, it will be a visual feast for the eyes. The authentic locale of Japan in the 30's is gloriously rendered and the world of the Geisha, with beauty and intrigue, malice and virtue, will evidently be a thrilling cinematic experience. If you enjoyed the book, this is a terrific buy. Plus, it's jus a stunningly beautiful coffee-table book.

There are times when still photographs from a feature film appear as self-serving PR or media hype for promoting a movie. There are other times, such as with the book based on 'Born Into Brothels' and this lovely 'Memoirs of a Geisha', when the end justifies the means. Standing alone, this is a lovely evocation of Japonoise with liquid, flowing images of geishas in costume, swirls of airborne petals, moody lighting, darkened streets - everything one imagined while reading Arthur Golden's fine novel.

Of interest are the attached comments from the crew surrounding the film, sketches and extended drawings of costumes and scenery, portraits of the cast members at rest. The result is a reverie of Japan of a bygone time admixed with a recreation of a period for a film. The contrast is dramatic: the book is lovely. And I have yet to see the movie! Grady Harp, December 05

It should come as no surprise that a film with such gorgeous production values is accompanied by a similarly lavish book. The book opens with the obligatory empty introduction by director Rob Marshall (whose thanks to screenwriter Robin Swicord gallingly comes after those to various costume, hair, and make-up designers), a brief seal of approval from novelist Arthur Golden, and a few background notes on geishas. The heart of the book is 80+ pages of stunning color still photos by David James--amazing work by someone with 30 years experiece. These are followed by forty pages of what are basically gussied up production notes about makeup, costumes, sets, etc. A beautiful coffee-table book for fans of the film.

Arthur Golden's "Memoirs of a Geisha" is one of my all time favorite novels. The fictional story about a popular geisha named Sayuri was spellbinding and well researched. I was thoroughly disappointed in the film adaptation because the director Rob Marshall who ruined the story completely by having the cast speak in perfect American english. I wasn't thrilled with his choice for the protagonist of the story Ziyi Zhang as Sayuri. I will admit that the film was visually stunning. As an accompaniment to the film, there is an interesting coffee table book about the film by Peggy Mulloy. The book contains photos from the film and behind the scenes. I couldn't help but noticed that the behind the scenes material in this book can also be viewd on the bonus dvd to "Memoirs of a Geisha". That is the biggest flaw with this book. The book offers nothing new to the reader that wasn't mentioned on the dvd. I will say that the photographs are absolutely gorgeous especially the ones with Gong Li in them.

Director Bob Marshall brought Arthur Golden's literary classic to the screen; now Peggy Mulloy's text and David James' gorgeous accompanying color photos bring MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA: A PORTRAIT OF THE FILM to the wide audience of book readers and film fans, probing behind the scenes to uncover how the filmmaker and his team re-created the geisha of Japan of the 1930s and 40s. Insights into geisha culture and screening of the movie accompany a 84-page presentation of visuals from the film in an outstanding keepsake memoir of Japanese history and culture.

If you liked the movie, then you'll like this book. But even if you don't like the movie, this book gives insights to things about Geishas and film making that are not in the theatre presentation.
The photos are excellent and the book itself is put together well.

If you loved the movie and you collect movie memorabilia, this book is a
necessity. The photo reproductions are beautiful and the text is good. I would have liked more coverage and background of the principal stars of the film though. This though is a minor complaint. Recommended.

There are a lot of really beautiful scenes from the movie as well as behind the scenes photography. It's pack full of stunning movie stills as well as lots of behind the scenes information that might add to your appreciation for the hard work that everyone put into making this unique movie. It's a great coffee table book that you'll enjoy going through time & again.

I found this book first in a library and I had to own it. I am so pleased with the price and shipping service on this item. I highly recommend it to anyone who loved the movie to own this book.

This is an excellent companion to the film featuring stunning photography and stills. There is a nice introduction by Rob Marshall the director of Memoirs and Arthur Golden, the author of the original book. This also has a brief history of the Geisha with woodblock prints and archival images of Geisha circa 1910. There is a section at the end of the book that features the making of the movie with some behind the scenes photos, cast photos, production design, choreography, make-up, hair, and wardrobe, as well as a brief section on sumo. This book is a delicious piece of visual candy, just like the film.