The scene in the brothel where the Geisha (or, perhaps, just elaborately dressed prostitute) makes her entrance is so spectacular that I believe it has some special significance. The problem is, I can't decide what that might be, except that anyone as intimidating as she was probably the wrong person to introduce a young gay man into the joys of women. And that's assuming she was the girl chosen for Sozaburo. Any thoughts?
shareyea She had to be, because thats the only resun the 2 are @ the brothel
shareI don't think she's a Geisha! Geisha aren't prostitutes by profession! I think she's an imitation!
:D
thtas kinda like saying an escort isnt a pro, mayb not but He/ She still works in a sketchy biz & saddly many do have sex 4 green. as F U C K E D up as it soundz Geshia were high priced glorified, I.E. highly respected 'call' women
shareTrue, true, a Geisha is a professional entertainer...she sings, dances, plays shamisen, recites poetry and engages in light conversation...but never a prostitute.
(the myth having arisen after WW2 when many impoverished Geisha had to switch professions in order to survive and also many former prostitutes dressed up as geisha for American GIs)
Courtesans are called either Oiran or Tayu (Oiran being all and Tayu the highest rank of Courtesans)
Telling Geisha and Oiran apart is really easy, for no Geisha would ever wear her obi tied in front, as Courtesans do...also look for the Kanzashi (hair pins)...they wear distinct types...Oiran usually have an elaborate multitude of long and thin needles in their hair while geisha sport much simpler hairdos and more flowery kanzashi.
So the one coming onto poor Sozaburo (she _does_ look creepy, after all :D) is not a geisha at all but a higher ranking Oiran.
Hmmm... why do you say the Geisha looks CREEPY coming on to POOR Sozaburo? She was hot (even if she was a courtesan)!
At least I hope she was a she .
Put Dirty Harry in the IMDB top 250!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066999/ratings
I disagree, 1st I doubt any of Us r historians & unless We personally know 19th centry Geshia We may nvr know, but the pnt I'd like to push is Geshia=High class "Working Women" watch or read Memiors of a Geshia
shareMars3, there are abundant load of information (books) regarding the life of late Tokugawa era courtesans, even down to the way they folded certain type of cloth to deal with their monthly periods. And I'm sure IttoOgami had read some of them. So you can't just simply ignore IttoOgami's explanation like that.
BTW, I think the woman was a Tayu, the highest class of courtesans. I remember Captain Yamazaki mentioned it explicitly, that he wants the best woman for Sozaburo. Hence the Tayu.
And no, geishas are not prostitutes. Although sometimes there are courtesans who dressed up like geishas, but the line is very clear. Geishas are not high class prostitutes, if that was what you were saying.
They literally call her a Tayuu. Tayuus had a certain dress code, extremely elaborate and ornamental, and were usually preceded by servants porting lanterns or such, forming a small parade.
There's no particular significance to her entrance, it's historically acurate, they actually strolled around like that.
I know you think you know all about geisha now that you've seen "Memoirs of a Geisha" but you're wrong.
The woman in this scene, as previously stated, is an OIRAN.
Geisha != prostitutes, not even high-class ones
Oiran = high-class prostitutes
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oiran
I find the discussion interesting. But I'm surprised no one comments on the scene itself. For my money, that brief entrance scene is one of the most mesmerizing that has ever been put on film. It's absolutely riveting, hypnotic, powerful--name your adjective! Oshima at his best!
________________
I complain too much. That teacher don't like me. Now it's your turn.
I'll comment on the scene; it is quite mesmerizing, as it's supposed to be. It is also differently lighted than many of the other scenes, its pacing is slowed, and we get no introduction; in a sense, it aims both to astonish and jar us. As someone wrote, this woman can also be viewed as possibly terrifying, which describes the effect she probably will have on Kano.
She is not a Geisha, but a courtesan, and of the highest type, because Kano is both a samurai and from a rich family. So he gets the best. The Tayu enters preceded by the children, in ritual fashion; her slow but enticing walk (which may or may not be related to the marvelous, ritualized walk in Nô theater, which symbolizes the Japanese principle of "yûgen," or "profound grace"); carefully arranged and revealing clothing, giving just a hint of her upper torso and back; the pallor of her skin; the perfection of her hair and makeup; all of it, is meant to be exceptional and thus to provoke the most intense desire. It's a very different perspective than many of us might have in the contemporary world, in Japan, the West or elsewhere, where what sparks desire is the antithesis of this, people completely nude, raw, in our faces, obvious, etc. (I'm not criticizing this either way, but just making a contrast).
As Yamazaki's response shows, the Tayu's process sparks almost immediate desire in him. He even strokes himself sexually as a result. Yet the irony that Oshima sets up is that despite the Tayu being the pinnacle of desirability, it does nothing for Kano. It is one of many moments in the film where Oshima Nagisa shows his mastery not just of filmmaking but of cultural context, and even if we have no knowledge whatsoever of Japanese history in general or samurai history specifically, we can appreciate this moment which takes us deep into the culture, however briefly and ironically, to illustrate the central points about one of the main characters and the entire lifeworld of this period.
This is one of my favorite movies; it brings together so many elements, from excellent but also almost artificial (or hyperreal) acting; poetic visual beauty and cinematography; precise and profound cultural grounding; complexity of plot and subtlety of meaning; a lyric narrative style with realistic incidents; lots of symbolism; and just enough mystery and strangeness without going overboard. That it's also based on a real historical moment and includes characters drawn from life makes it even more fascinating. I know we will never see Hollywood making movies of this sort, but I do hope directors, especially ones developing their craft, can learn from a great filmmaker like Oshima Nagisa.
[deleted]