Rob Marshall did do justice to the book in terms of the screenplay, but the art direction simply fell short of my expectations.
Suzuka Ohgo portrayed her role as the young Chiyo very well. We see her innocence, her fear, but one thing we fail to see is that she is actually an intelligent girl, and in this way, the script does not do justice to young Chiyo. She did not demand to see her sister Satsu in her first meeting with Mother. In fact, the nickname Pumpkin, was given to Puumpkin by Chiyo, herself, and it caught on, a small detail which have shown viewers young Chiyo's gift with expression.
Zhang Ziyi portrayed her role of the older Chiyo, and later Sayuri well. Her expression in her dance, her smile, her passion was captured brilliantly by Ziyi. But while she may have done well in those areas, it is difficult to get a Chinese girl to portray a Japanese role.
Kaori Momoi portrayed her role as Mother well. She was shrewd and calculative, attributes which served her very well, especially during the war years.
As with every book to film transition, there are inaccuracies, but the version on film manages to stay quite true to the character development in the book, except for one role, i.e., the role of Hatsumomo.
Hatsumomo was a very scheming woman in the book, and the role, unfortunately, was poorly executed by Gong Li, and admittedly, quite badly written as well.
Mameha's role was surprisingly played well by Michelle Yeoh, even though she looked nothing like the Mameha in the book. But she played her role with such conviction and passion, and well, Michelle does have the look of a mentor, so I suppose Rob Marshall did pick a good Mameha (in terms of character, but in terms of looks she was far off the mark). Every time I read the book, I think that Yui Natsukawa had the looks which matched quite close to Mameha in the book. Remake anyone? Youki Kudoh. Finally, another Japanese name. Why couldn't they get Japanese for all the roles? It puzzles me. She did justice to the role as Pumpkin. The girl who was Sayuri's best friend. The girl who became the favorite of the American soldiers because of her crude ways. The girl who betrayed Sayuri.
Ken Watanabe and Kôji Yakusho portrayed their roles well as the Chairman and Nobu. My only criticism about the script? Nobu isn't that unfriendly to Sayuri, and would never sell her off to the Americans as suggested. He honors friendship above all else.
The dialog between the Sayuri and the other characters was well written. I did not have trouble understanding Ziyi's English, nor Gong Li's English, but you can tell they had a bit of trouble speaking English in general.
The part that troubles me greatly is that General Tottori's name is mentioned, but it is not specified who he is. He is in fact (for those who have not read the book) Sayuri's first danna, and this made Nobu angry with Sayuri at first as he had always wanted to be Sayuri's danna.
The other thing that troubles me is that while the characters were shown to have aged, the Chairman seem to have stayed the same! Why, Rob Marshall, why? Some parts of the soundtrack (eg, when Sayuri is on the mountain, throwing away the handkerchief after the Chairman caught her with Colonel Derricks) sounded more Chinese than Japanese! Shigeru Umebayashi, you are hereby needed for the soundtrack if the show is ever remade! A show in desperate need of a remake. Get more Japanese names, please!
Suzuka Ohgo portrayed her role as the young Chiyo very well. We see her innocence, her fear, but one thing we fail to see is that she is actually an intelligent girl, and in this way, the script does not do justice to young Chiyo. She did not demand to see her sister Satsu in her first meeting with Mother. In fact, the nickname Pumpkin, was given to Puumpkin by Chiyo, herself, and it caught on, a small detail which have shown viewers young Chiyo's gift with expression.
Zhang Ziyi portrayed her role of the older Chiyo, and later Sayuri well. Her expression in her dance, her smile, her passion was captured brilliantly by Ziyi. But while she may have done well in those areas, it is difficult to get a Chinese girl to portray a Japanese role.
Kaori Momoi portrayed her role as Mother well. She was shrewd and calculative, attributes which served her very well, especially during the war years.
As with every book to film transition, there are inaccuracies, but the version on film manages to stay quite true to the character development in the book, except for one role, i.e., the role of Hatsumomo.
Hatsumomo was a very scheming woman in the book, and the role, unfortunately, was poorly executed by Gong Li, and admittedly, quite badly written as well.
Mameha's role was surprisingly played well by Michelle Yeoh, even though she looked nothing like the Mameha in the book. But she played her role with such conviction and passion, and well, Michelle does have the look of a mentor, so I suppose Rob Marshall did pick a good Mameha (in terms of character, but in terms of looks she was far off the mark). Every time I read the book, I think that Yui Natsukawa had the looks which matched quite close to Mameha in the book. Remake anyone? Youki Kudoh. Finally, another Japanese name. Why couldn't they get Japanese for all the roles? It puzzles me. She did justice to the role as Pumpkin. The girl who was Sayuri's best friend. The girl who became the favorite of the American soldiers because of her crude ways. The girl who betrayed Sayuri.
Ken Watanabe and Kôji Yakusho portrayed their roles well as the Chairman and Nobu. My only criticism about the script? Nobu isn't that unfriendly to Sayuri, and would never sell her off to the Americans as suggested. He honors friendship above all else.
The dialog between the Sayuri and the other characters was well written. I did not have trouble understanding Ziyi's English, nor Gong Li's English, but you can tell they had a bit of trouble speaking English in general.
The part that troubles me greatly is that General Tottori's name is mentioned, but it is not specified who he is. He is in fact (for those who have not read the book) Sayuri's first danna, and this made Nobu angry with Sayuri at first as he had always wanted to be Sayuri's danna.
The other thing that troubles me is that while the characters were shown to have aged, the Chairman seem to have stayed the same! Why, Rob Marshall, why? Some parts of the soundtrack (eg, when Sayuri is on the mountain, throwing away the handkerchief after the Chairman caught her with Colonel Derricks) sounded more Chinese than Japanese! Shigeru Umebayashi, you are hereby needed for the soundtrack if the show is ever remade! A show in desperate need of a remake. Get more Japanese names, please!