MetLA

I saw this film tonight at the DGA. Sidney Pollack interviewed Rob Marshall after. I thought this was a teriffic film. I've never read the book, so it's all new to me. The cast was outstanding, the DP should win the Oscar, and John Williams's score was one of the best of the year. Rob Marshall didn't fall into the sophomore slump at all - in fact this movie is arguably better than Chicago. Sidney Pollack asked Rob Marshall repeatedly how he was able to take on two of the most technically difficult movies in recent memory, adding "I hate you!" Marshall simply said he watched the directors when he worked as a choreographer, and always made his stage shows into films in his head as he worked on them. To prep for the film the cast & Marshall went through "Geisha Bootcamp", with 7 rooms for makeup, hair, kimono training, dance, etc. Marshall also commented on how hard the language barriers were. 5 of the main cast were making their English language debuts. And when he filmed scenes with Gong Li and Suzuka Ohgo (young Sayuri), he had Japanese, Chinese, and English translators going at once, and the only time the actors could speak to each other was when they were speaking English during the scene. They built the Japanese village on a horse ranch in Ventura, shot the coastal scenes in Northern California, and then went to Japan to shoot the temple & landmark scenes. Rob Marshall seems like a very personable director and one who really uses his crew to maximum effect. All and all, it's my favorite film of the Oscar season so far!