Memoirs of a Geisha

Memoirs of a Geisha takes the familiar Cinderella story and locates it in the oriental setting that may or may not have existed in pre-war Japan. Widely criticised for not showing the reality of the geisha culture, the film, adapted from the novel by Arthur Golden, tends to melodrama, and is essentially superficial, but its ravishing surfaces are captivating, and for exotic spectacle you would be hard pressed to find a more attractive movie about the exploitation of prostitutes.