A Geisha

Some of the dialogue is overly didactic, which seems strictly at odds with the elegant blocking and movement. On the whole, it's less cynical than Streets of Shame, its obvious companion piece, but it never denies the hardship faced by geishas to maintain their dignity in a merciless system; it's just tempered by the tender relationship between Miyoharu and Aiko, brilliantly portrayed by Kogure and Wakao respectively, and Mizoguchi depicts their ritualistic existence with compassion and clarity.

Excellent work from Mizoguchi, very beautiful and moving and compelling. Wonderful use of curtains and corridors. He really captures female characters better than any other Japanese director I've seen. Very sad that so few of his films are available.

Libra

Does a wonderful job of telling the stories of a bunch of Geishas, but doesn't shy away from the darker side of it. Mizoguchi handles all of it with finesse, creating heartfelt and realistic characters, while shooting it all beautifully.

The story and characters are all very interesting as is the account of the difficulties faced by prostitutes and geishas in maintaining their dignity and keeping hold of their personal rights. The ending of the film is very poignant featuring the culmination of this account with one of our two characters expressing her fury at how the system works as well as featuring moments between the two which are very tender and really quite beautiful as they share a sisterly friendship.

Difficult. First half superb detail of Japanese view on geisha life. Very well shot in Kyoto = picture perfect Machiya-land (prob all bulldozed now?), last half bit soapy but still has elements of strong relationship developed between the trad older geisha & her wilfull young non tradition-bound apprentice. NB disappointing visuals (somewhat bleached) fm advertised bluray expected crisp, sharp B&W. Watch & make your own decision. Apparently re-release was NOT remastered-ta, WangJiaWei@Avistaz.

Really quite an interesting portrait of the way the geisha system works and an affecting depiction of three generations of geisha women, and in particular of the friendship between two of them, with good performances and carefully composed images.

Star Rating: ★★★1/2

88.50

Prepare o lencinho se você quiser assistir a esse filme, aqui mais uma vez Mizoguchi se embrenha na realidade das mulheres vítimas do patriarcado, mais especificamente na dura realidade nada glamourosa das gueishas. Esse é o primeiro filme da trilogia das geishas que o diretor fez nos anos 50 e a sua dura realidade vai se agravando conforma avança a trilogia, o que não faz de Gion Bayashi menos dilacerador de corações. DVD Versátil O Cinema de Mizoguchi Volume 2.

Every single shot is so elegant and beautiful, like the movement of a Geisha. A touching and compelling story

Like Martin Teller says, Mizoguchi puts corridors and dividers to great use in showing how the geisha lifestyle is, traditionally, all but squirreled away into the smallest, darkest corners.