Music of Memoirs

February 19, 2008


I finally saw Memoirs of A Geisha on HBO two weekends ago. From the night that I first watched it until now, the substance of the story and the entire cinematography never left my mind. Most importantly, the sound of the cello never left my senses.

Now I came across this very interesting clip of how its musical score came about, of course not doubting the exceptional talent of cellist Yo-Yo Ma and John Williams. Williams is most famous for his musical rendering of E.T. (Extra Terrestrial) and Superman, to name a few. And now, he recalls, he passed on scoring for Harry Potter to give way to laying the music for the biggest film of 2005.

Rob Marshall, director of Memoirs of A Geisha, says that the music seems to speak a language that is Sayuri's. The cello is Sayuri's voice. And John Williams has meticulously conceptualized this music through the cello.



Admittedly, this has climbed up the charts of my favorite movies. I had to order the video and book written by Arthur Golden. Memoirs of A Geisha is a story of Sayuri, played by Zhang Ziyi, who was taught social and artistic skills to be able to enter a world of wealth, power and political intrigue; most of all to become Japan's most celebrated geisha. The real catch in this movie for me is Ken Watanabe, the Japanese actor from the Last Samurai fame. Watanabe plays the role of The Chairman. Sayuri desperately attempts to attain the love of The Chairman and the climax of the story is whether or not she does meet her goal.

Miss Universe 2007

It was Miss Japan Riyo Mori who was crowned Miss Universe 2007 yesterday. The host city was Mexico. I came home early last night to catch the replay on Star World. And for a two-hour long televised competition, it didn't seem that spectacular compared to the 1990s.

If I can recall quite distinctly, the pageants of a decade ago seemed to be flawlessly dramatic, and by that I mean no funky music of a Mexican group to sashay the stage to. The contestants were gorgeous in their gowns. And by the time the last 5 finalists were thrown questions by the judges, they walked once more to give everyone that look, the would-be winning look.

I can still remember this song when the little girls handed them flowers on stage. It went something like this:

"When you wish upon a star
Makes no difference who you are
When you wish upon a star
Your dreams come true

Every wish is in your dream
No request is too extreme
When you wish upon a star
Your dreams come true."

At least, that was how my sisters and I would sing it. We also made a beautiful scrapbook of that particular Miss Universe pageant when the Philippines hosted it. I think it was Charlene Gonzales who represented our country. Asked about our geography, Charlene, referring to the islands, answered, "high tide or low tide?" This gave the judges all the more reason to appreciate the wonders of our land.

In this recently concluded competition of beauty and brains, our hopeful Anna Theresa Licaros won the Most Photogenic Award. Consolation enough? Well, maybe. An unfortunately cringing highlight of the pageant: Miss USA, walks, and then momentarily trips, stands up and glides back. That black gown was gorgeous.

All in all, the show was alright. Not enough to make me jump though. Despite the rain and thunder last night (which my son got scared about), I give it a 7/10 on my entertainment scorecard. Donald Trump should be thankful. :-)