Memoirs of a Geisha: Book vs Movie

I bought the 'Memoirs of a Geisha' novel while in Singapore in January and thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Mind you my eyes were mighty tired after that because I would end up spending about 3-4 hours at each sitting, usually finishing a handful of chapters. Having just recently seen the movie, I can say I preferred the novel over the movie.

Why? The book was able to draw the reader into the life and mind of Sayuri. While the book was able to describe the emotions and thoughts of the heroine in detail, I didn't sense such emotion from the movie. While I agree that you'll never get as much detail in a movie as from a book, the details of the geisha was what made the book come to life. While reading, I was drawn into the life of the character as if I was her shadow, seeing the same scenes as she was. In the book, you learn why Sayuri & her sister were sold by their parents, the significance of money in the life of a geisha, how a geisha entertains her guests. Unfortunately the movie glosses over these details and turn the memoir into a love story. If you are able to get your hands on a copy of the novel, I recommend it.

For movies such as 'The Lord of the Rings' and 'Harry Potter' where the movies are based on the novels, I wonder how much better the books must be. Then again, movies based on books aren't all bad. I remember one particular scene in the first 'Lord of the Rings' movie where Arwen (Liv Tyler) had rescued Frodo (Elijah Wood) from the black cloaked demons (I forget the name) and spoke the memorable phrase "If you want him, come and claim him". I assure you, many guys would have loved to be in Frodo's place.

While on the subject of movies, as most will already know, 'Brokeback Mountain' did not win an Oscar as most have anticipated. Many were surprised yet reading the various news reports about the result, most have concluded that Hollywood is just not ready to accept the gay themed movie as their best for the year. Mind you, 'Crash' with it's racially charged theme is also somewhat controversial.

Sydney recently had their 'Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras' & I caught a glimpse of it on the news, want to take a wild guess at what I saw? Yup ... bare chested men dancing in cowboy gear ... couldn't help but chuckle ... I wonder if any cowboy western movie will ever be viewed the same again.