Set in a mysterious and exotic world which still casts a potent spell today, the story begins in the years before World War II, when a Japanese child is torn from her penniless family to work as a skullery maid to a geisha. Despite a treacherous rival who nearly breaks her spirit, the girl blossoms into the legendary geisha Sayuri (Ziyi Zhang). Beautiful and accomplished, Sayuri captivates the most powerful men of her day, but is haunted by a secret love for the one man (Ken Watanabe) who is out of her reach.

Based on the internationally acclaimed novel by Arthur Golden. Memoirs of a Geisha is like taking a look through a peep hole into a world much larger and more fantastic and beautiful than anything you could ever imagine. The world of the Geisha is so alien to the west, that it seems as fictional as Narnia - a dreamscape filled with a grace and beauty refined by centuries. In it's unadulterated pre-war purity it was a world of rare and exotic music and dance and of course a kind of love just as alien to the west. To some extent the War and subsequent American occupation compromised and cheapened the world of the Geisha.

The movie is also a fantastic tale about how the strength and determination of the human spirit, has the power to transform lives and conquer adversity. It is hard not to fall in love with the world that the Geisha inhabited as well as the story of the inspiring metamorphosis of the most famous of their kind -Sayuri. As the story of young Chiyo proceeds, director Rob Marshall (Chicago) skillfully develops this film of personal triumph and unrequited love. The life of a Geisha is rife with conflict and Chiyo (played wonderfully as a child by Suzuka Ohgo) must contend with a rival so tenaciously bitter that it's hard to imagine how she persisted. In Memoirs of a Geisha the inspiration for Chiyo's dogged determination to overcome such staggering adversity is love. A love as innocent and compelling as Chiyo herself.

The object of this intense and inexorable desire is a man she knows only as the Chairman. Played beautifully by Ken Watanabe (The Last Emporer) The Chairman shows the blossoming young beauty much kindness and from the time she first sets eyes on the man she is hopelessly smitten, yet as her destiny lies within the loveless confines of the Geisha life, the desperate depth of her doomed love is well developed over time by Marshall.

As a window character, who does the most to enighten the audience as to the historical siginificance and traditions of the Geisha, Michelle Yeoh does a great job as Mameha, the more experienced, kinder mentor Geisha. As she guides Sayuri, Chiyo's adopted Geisha name, through the process, we learn a lot about what their life was like. The discipline, their place in society, the goals they worked towards are all presented by the older mentor. Yeoh moves gracefully through her scenes, becoming a benevolent judge as to the protégé's progress, guiding her, but not afraid to reprimand her if she steps out of line. As a result, she guides us through their unusual world. As such her performance is indispensible.

Gong Li is also quite good as Hatsumomo, the Geisha so threatened by Chiyo that she takes it upon herself to make her life a living hell. Because her circumstances are much different, Hatsumomo is only playing at the Geisha's life - in fact she is courting a young man who could never afford a Geisha - and it is this jealosy and her fear of losing any of her standing, that heightens the intensity of her hatred and her torment of Chiyo becomes increasingly sadistic.

Still and all the film is about the visuals - the sequences showing Chiyo's develpment as a dancer are stunning and Marshall turns in his coupe de grace in a scene in which Sayuri makes her reputation as the foremost Geisha in Osaka in front of an audience of her peers (Hatsumomo her rival), her mentor, and her true, forbidden love the Chairman. Sayuri performs a thrilling, beautifully choreographed and staged dance high on drama and sensuality. The path of the geisha was a lonely one, forbidden to love, they were slaves to their trade and even after making their fortunes they were not able to break the chains that have bound them so long. I was entranced by the story, and left breathless by the beauty of the cinematography and near tears from the haunting music that stitched this lovely and fragile tapestry together.

With terrific and varying performances in the likes of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon to House of Flying Daggers and now to Memoirs of a Geisha Ziyi Zhang is the real deal. From a Geisha to a female warrier I've bought into everything that she's done and can't wait to see what she comes up with next. I guess the best compliment I can offer the film is to say that it has got me very interested in reading the book. I was so charmed by the film that I want to learn more about this incredible microcosm and immerse myself once again this world and it's story.