Article - Memoirs of a Geisha Oscar Preview

Similar to movies such as A Beautiful Mind, Cold Mountain, and The Aviator, Memoirs of a Geisha had been widely considered a major contender for Oscar glory since the first day it started shooting. Rob Marshall tasted great success with his directing debut, Chicago, which was nominated for 13 academy awards and won 6 of them, including Best Picture. For his second feature, he turned to adapt Memoirs of a Geisha, an international best seller by author Arthur Golden, and assembled an impressive collection of talents in the process. The studio also gave it a prime release date. All components were in place for the film to dominate and walk away with at least a few awards.

The film started out with some good buzz in November, fueled by Richard Corliss’ Time article and Tom O’Neil’s praise at GoldDerby. As late as the first week of December, many still confidently placed it in their best picture lineup. However, as more reviews trickled in leading up to its release on December 9th, we started to realize it is not a film the majority of critics embrace. Instead, a lot of them have rather harsh words regarding how the novel is adapted as well as the decision of having Chinese actresses portraying Japanese characters while speaking in English. The rating at Rottentomatoes dived to 30% fresh, and the film currently has a mediocre score of 55 at Metacritic. The buzz turned so unexpectedly fast that it still received a place in the top 10 lists of both National Board of Review (NBR) and Broadcast Film Critics Association (BFCA), but Golden Globes put an end on any slim chance it had at a best picture nomination by ignoring it in the biggest categories.

Even though Memoirs of a Geisha has now no shot at a Best Picture or Best Director nomination at Oscar, it remains a contender in many other categories. Even in the harshest reviews, the technical aspects of the film are given good inks. Both Zhang Ziyi and Gong Li have also received mentions. Here is my analysis of possible nominations, ranked in term of likelihood:

Costume Design (95%)
When a film is getting panned as heavily as Memoirs is, no nomination is a lock regardless how impressive and how much praise the particular aspect is getting. That being said, costume is essential part of the film, and costume designers have shown they favor historical and stylized period pieces. They also seem to think for themselves mostly and not to be influenced by what is happening with the best picture race. Last year they nominated Troy and Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, neither of which received great reviews. In addition, Collen Atwood is very much loved by her peers.

Original Score (90%)
The composer club has shown even more tendency of sticking with their own, so one can expect John Williams to get at least one nomination among Memoirs, Munich, and War of the Worlds. Munich’s score has not been talked about much since screenings started, while Memoirs’ has been hailed as one of the year’s best and is nominated for both Golden Globes and BFCA.

Art Direction (90%)
For period pieces, the category goes hand in hand with costume design, and it is another category where the overall quality of the film does not come to play as much. The Phantom of the Opera was nominated even with bad reviews. John Myhre is no stranger either.

Cinematography (60%)
Almost all reviews commented on how beautiful and mesmerizing Memoirs looks, so it appears it should be close to a lock. After all, The Phantom of the Opera was nominated here also. However, over the years, cinematographers have aligned their nominees more closely to the best picture lineup than the artists from above categories have, so a repeat of Phantom is not a guarantee.

Makeup (40%)
Memoirs should be among the top 5 contenders, but it is a tough category to call, as the group had yielded some unexpected choices recently (e.g. Planet of Apes was snubbed of a nomination in 2002).

Actress (35%)
Zhang Ziyi can have this high of a percentage because the category is as weak as it has ever been, and the Golden Globes Best Actress – Drama nomination helps a great deal. Reese Witherspoon, Judi Dench, Felicity Huffman, and Keira Knightley are in good position to be nominated, but the last spot is wide open. Joan Allen has not received the kind of push needed from critics. Missing GG especially hurts. Charlie Theron has been able to hang around with her performance in North Country, but the poor box office and the beating Aeon Flux took make her iffy as well. Other possibilities such as Naomi Watts and Q’Orianka Kilcher also haven’t fully stepped up. SAG will give us a better picture.

Supporting Actress (25%)
Gong Li’s performance has been raved in many reviews, including the ones that panned the film, and she looked to be on her way to a nomination. However, the pre-cursors so far haven’t been kind to her, as she only secured a win from NBR. The category is also much more competitive with Michelle Williams, Scarlett Johansson, Rachel Weisz, Maria Bello, Amy Adams, and Diane Keaton.

Sound (5%)
War films, music heavy, and loud films tend to score in this category. Memoirs did have war theme and music associated with dance numbers, but with the kind of competition it is facing, getting a nomination is unlikely.

Adapted Screenplay (1%)
If it had been in the original screenplay category, it would have had a better percentage since the fifth spot there is up for grab. On the other hand, the adapted screenplay is as competitive as it gets.

Editing (1%)
Without being in contention for best picture, there is little chance of getting an editing nomination.

Overall, Memoirs of a Geisha looks to stand as the biggest force ever for a film with 30% RT rating. At minimum, it should grab 4 nominations, and at best, it can obtain 6.