Memoirs Of Geisha Movie Belonging

The 2005 film ‘Memoirs of Geisha’, directed by Rob Marshall, is a film which follows the life of a young Japanese girl who is taken from the life of which she was accustomed to and is forced to live in and become part of a world which is exceedingly isolating, restricting and where conformity is highly valued. Sayuri, the protagonist in the film, finds that the only way for her to overcome her feelings of disconnectedness and isolation is to actually intentionally isolate and disconnect herself from her desires, love, emotions, and ultimately herself.
The film introduces the idea of acceptance as being a key feature of achieving happiness. Those who are desperately searching for recognition from others are willing to give up control of their
In this scene, and throughout the entire film, Sayuri’s voice is heard as a voice over as she is retelling her story, effectively narration. It implies that the story is a personal experience and so it allows the audience to feel a sense of empathy towards the character as the narration makes it easier for the audience to relate her experiences and emotions to their own personal lives. Sayuri is seen running through, what seems to be, an endless tunnel of large wooden posts. A follow shot is used, when the character is seemingly pursued by the camera, which assists in making the tunnel feel as though the character is running away. Metaphorically, she could be running away from her past feelings of disconnectedness, isolation and unhappiness. A panning shot is also used to the roof of the tunnel. This causes a claustrophobic affect and makes Sayuri look as
In order for Sayuri to feel a sense of security and comfort, she must seek recognition from General Tanaka; however, in the society she lives in, she must be accepted by others in the community to achieve this recognition. One scene in particular which presents this is when Sayuri performs a traditional Geisha dance in front of a highly regarded audience. This dance signifies her official Geisha status which is one step further towards achieving her goal. The dance is extremely overpowering, intriguing and is full of emotion and passion. At the conclusion of the scene, the camera pans over the audience to show their reactions of joy and pleasure. This shows that those within her community have accepted her and are welcoming. General Tanaka reacts along with the crowd, “you were wonderful tonight”, which encourages Sayuri to continue to pursuit her goal. Blue lighting is used to create a magical and mysterious tone and this draws attention to Sayuri as it highlights her figure. Diegetic sound is used as traditional Japanese music is being played by the orchestra. This contributes to the feelings of mystery and also adds culture as traditional instruments are used. A close up is used to show the emotion that Sayuri is portraying. This gives the audience an idea of the emotions that she is feeling and how immersed she is in what she is doing, showing her