The World of Geisha/Comments

"The acting is perfect, and the film is humorous. In its praise for female beauty and derision for male stupidity lies the generous spirit of Jean Renoir." No, that’s not me trying convince you a pink film can have real qualities. That’s François Truffaut describing Tatsumi Kumashiro's The World of Geisha. And, as expected, I didn’t care much for the film. It reminds me of Noboru Tanaka's masterfully boring A Woman Called Abe Sada; a talented director trapping himself between four walls and delivering an uninteresting characterization piece. The structure is slightly interesting, though. Half of the film consists of Junko Miyashita's geisha spending a hot night with a customer. The rest is about several different characters and their affairs. All stories take place in the same house and are told simultaneously, but the timescale differs. Some obviously expand over several days while the main story is just one night (apart from the very end). Kumashiro is in no hurry to point out what takes place before the other, and what comes after. --HungFist