the floating world

She paints her face to hide her face. Her eyes are deep water. It is not for Geisha to want. It is not for geisha to feel. Geisha is an artist of the floating world. She dances, she sings. She entertains you, whatever you want. The rest is shadows, the rest is secret.

We went to see Memoirs of a Geisha on Saturday night. It was excellent. There were a few weird things, like why did Chiyo have blue eyes, and selling your virginity to the highest bidder is not actually part of the geisha lifestyle, but it was a beautifully made film. I read Geisha of Gion by Mineko Iwasaki last year, and Mineko's story was similar in a number of ways. According to Wkipedia, this is because the book Memoirs of a Geisha was largely based on Geisha of Gion. A pity the film-makers didn't just make a film based on Geisha of Gion. Though I did like the character of the Chairman, played by Ken Watanabe.