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Sakuran

Sakuran (2006)

December. 07,2006
|
6.7
| Drama History

Anna Tsuchiya blasts back in time playing an oiran, a top-notched geisha of the Edo period’s Yoshiwara District, navigating brothel politics while trying to cling to the man she loves.

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Alicia
2006/12/07

I love this movie so much

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TinsHeadline
2006/12/08

Touches You

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Lovesusti
2006/12/09

The Worst Film Ever

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GazerRise
2006/12/10

Fantastic!

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fergus-stewart
2006/12/11

This is the ideal movie to put in your DVD player in order to impress your friends with your new flat-screen TV! The colours have been ramped up to 11 and the photography is absolutely stunning. Near the beginning of the film we see Anna Tsuchiya's character as a child watching the Oiran (the number 1 courtesan) parading down the street on her incredibly high wooden sandals. It is one of several visual sequences which, as a lover of the Japanese aesthetic (past and present) I simply can't get out of my head! Fantastic! The director (she is more famous as a photographer) uses the same approach (of modern music for a period movie) as Sophia Coppola in 'Marie Antoinette' but, for my money, much more successfully. Modern music frequently jars in Japanese movies but here it works brilliantly. Beneath the incredible visuals the story is really one of the brightly-plumed bird trapped in a gilded cage; beautiful as she and everything around her is, Anna Tsuchiya's character knows that escape seems impossible. But make no mistake, this is not a gloomy film, it's a downright treat.

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chechrissie
2006/12/12

Sakuran was a fun, interesting and beautiful film. I had meant to watch it for some time but never quite felt in the mood for it when I made it to the Tsutaya DVD rental shop near my house. Last Friday I finally took the plunge and am so glad I did. Just before I watched it I was online and thought I would as I sometimes do check how people had rated it on IMDb. I like to believe this never affects my viewing of the film and am now surprised at it's relatively low rating. I was also surprised by the last person to review it. I rate the film an 8 but only really because I found the set disappointing at times and because Miho Kanno was not in it enough for me. Though there are many beautiful images in the film and wonderful costumes the overall cinematography and set give the feeling of a TV show. That perhaps is a criticism of the budget rather than the director.Kiyoha the main character? Kiyoha is wonderful. She remains tough and untainted by her treatment and surroundings and the way that she speaks compared to the otehrs around her more than anything emphasises this. When I say that she is tough I mean just that but she also has a rather pure and gentle soul despite her way of acting and speaking. We can see this in how she treats the younger girls in the brothel. I would guess that Anna Tsuchiya does an excellent job of portraying the character from the comic book series but would have to ask somebody who has read the series to find out for sure. There certainly seems to be none of the American weakness and fatal flaw in adapting controversial comic book characters to the screen. I feel that nothing had been watered-down here.In Kiyoha's relationships with men we see an unexpected honesty that both attracts us and them to her as much as her beauty. There are three main rivals for her love. Though not entirely unexpected her final choice is still gratifying. I shall not tell you much more except that I loved this film and again fell in love with Miho Kanno. What a beauty!

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Iria Ervich
2006/12/13

Sakuran, though different on some levels from Memoirs of A Geisha, shares the same, maybe better, artistic visual. This movie tells the story of an oiran (prostitutes, different from geisha) named Kiyoha (later Higurashi) played by Tsuchiya Anne.Much more realistic than Memoirs of A Geisha, Sakuran has a simple plot circling in Kiyoha's raise from a hikkomi (oiran-apprentice) to the highest ranking oiran in Tamakuki House. A numbers of men introduces her with love, heartbreak, hope and freedom. The beautiful Kiyoha meets first love Sojiro (Narimiya Hiroki), wealthy samurai Kuranosuke (Shiina Kippei) and a kind brothel clerk Seiji (Ando Masanobu). Like a goldfish in a tank, the outspoken Kiyoha longs for freedom.Sakuran presents beautiful vibrant colors from kimonos, interior decors and ornaments throughout the movie. Very energetic and accompanied with strong modern songs by Shiina Ringo, Sakuran is sure to please the eyes. Outside its beautiful visual, the storyline and plot is rather bland without the ability to stir the viewer's emotion. Tsuchiya Anne gives a pretty strong performance and fits her character well.

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jmaruyama
2006/12/14

Ninagawa Mika's "Sakuran" is a gorgeous, vibrant and simply beautiful movie. Stunningly visual, lavish and absolutely mesmerizing.Based on manga writer/artist Anno Moyoco's "joyosei" (young woman's) comic series "Sakuran", the story tells of a young girl sold to a brothel in the red-light district of Yoshiwara by her indifferent mother (during the late Edo period) and her struggles to adapt to life as a Oiran (courtesan).The rebellious girl is put under the care of a beautiful Oiran, Shohi (Kanno Miho). The girl is given the name Tomeki and is trained by Shohi in the ways of becoming a great courtesan. She suffers much at the hands of her new "family" but in time becomes a "hikkomi" (prostitute).Her increasing popularity among the various Edo clientèle soon overshadows that of the current favorite Takao (Kimura Yoshino) much to her jealous disdain. Now given the more glamorous name Kiyoha, the young courtesan (Anna Tsuchiya) struggles with life as a Oiran while trying to find true love in a fake world. Eventually she achieves her goal of becoming a Yoshiwara star and assumes the new name of Higurashi but even this long sought after goal seems unsatisfying and she longs to find her own happiness.While comparisons to Rob Marshall's 2005 "Memoirs of A Geisha" are inevitable (Geisha are not Oiran and vice versa) especially with regards to story, I think "Sakuran" is more stylistically similar to Sofia Coppola's 2006 "Marie Antoinette". Like "Marie Antoinette", "Sakuran" is set in the past but rather than present it in a dull, drab, dated fashion, Ninagawa takes the opposite approach and presents the Edo period as a glorious spectacle of color and flamboyance. The modern rock music soundtrack, use of modern Japanese and focus on spectacular fashion also add to the similarities. This is not a historical documentation but an artistic interpretation of life at the time not unlike movies like "Samurai Fiction".Where "Memoirs of a Geisha" played more like a flawed theatrical fairy tale seen through the eyes of foreigners ("Gilbert and Sullivan's "The Mikado" comes to mind) "Sakuran" seems like a sensual and romantic Japanese manga come to life.Photographer turned director Ninagawa's eye for detail and skills in photography are put to great effect in "Sakuran" and it really shows on screen. The world of "Sakuran" seem almost too beautiful to be real. Cinematographer Ishizaka Takuro should also be credited with the amazing camera work.With fabulous production designs by Iwashiro Namiko and breath taking costumes and makeup by Iga Daisuke and Sugiyama Yuko "Sakura" is a good looking film.The screenplay by Tanada Yuki and Anno Moyoco tries its best to adapt the long manga story to film and does so admirably. Like her equally talented husband, Anno Hideaki (Evangelion, Cutie Honey Movie), Moyoco's flair for visuals do tend to overshadow the story a bit. I would have loved to see more of the mundane everyday lives of the Oiran as well as Kiyoha/Higurashi's struggles at trying to be accepted.Rock idol/model Anna Tsuchiya is an unconventional beauty (she reminds me a lot of Christina Ricci) and is definitely very good here. While her rebel role is not all too dissimilar from her previous role in fan favorite "Shimotsuma Monogatari" (AKA Kamakazi Girls), "Sakuran" does give her more of an opportunity to display her very natural and playful acting style. I hope that she is given more roles in the future that showoff more of her acting talents as indeed it is a waste to have her type-casted in the same type of "Jajauma" character.The modern soundtrack by Shiina Ringo (which mixed jazz, rock, pop and even cabaret) was also very good and surprisingly didn't really seem that much out of place amid the Edo era Yoshikawa setting."Sakuran" is definitely a surprising delight and a very good debut for Ninagawa who is certainly poised to become another shining star in the Japanese cinema world.

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