Latest / The Art of Costume Podcast / Memoirs of a Geisha

Transcript

Memoirs of a Geisha · The Art of Costume Podcast

0:06
Hello and welcome to the Art of Costume podcast.
0:08
I'm most with Joy Glass. And I'm Spencer Williams.
0:12
Hello Costumers. Hello.
0:14
How's everybody doing out there? How are you, Spencer?
0:17
Doing good. By the time this episode come
0:20
out, you and I would have went to San Diego Comic Con together.
0:24
That would have been fun. We were just having some laughs
0:28
behind the scenes about my outfit and she's trying to
0:30
convince me to wear. Color for once in your life.
0:34
What did you say? I'll see you in your black
0:37
T-shirt. We'll see, but we have another
0:43
big episode today that I've been very excited to talk about.
0:47
I am so excited. Like I said at the end of
0:50
Cleopatra, this is a top five costume film.
0:54
Have you seen? This film before.
0:56
Yes, I saw this film as like, I mean, not long after it came
1:02
out. And as a child I was just like
1:05
captivated, especially because I was like in my anime era.
1:10
So to see something a little more real life about Japanese
1:19
culture was like really cool to me.
1:23
I also one time, if you don't already know, this is a Colleen
1:28
Atwood designed film for the costumes.
1:34
I actually got to ask her a question once about it when I
1:39
was in school for costume design.
1:42
I don't remember what I asked her or what she said because I
1:45
think I blacked out. I was so excited.
1:49
I've been there. I know.
1:50
I know the feeling. And someone even had to remind
1:53
me to ask the question because I was just like.
1:56
Was it like in class or like she?
1:59
Was she was like at Fidam doing like a special talk?
2:06
I don't remember what it was for, right?
2:09
Well, they, the designers would do that from time to time.
2:11
Yeah, so. Well, if you all don't know
2:14
Array, we are talking about Memoirs of a Geisha, yes?
2:17
Who did we not say that? You know, but they knew when
2:20
they clicked on the title. I think I'm very excited to talk
2:24
about this one. I remember we I had this DVD in
2:26
my house, like living with my parents forever, but never
2:30
cracked it in. I don't know why I never watched
2:32
it. And now all these years I've
2:34
just come and waiting. And then when we started this
2:36
podcast, it was always on the list and we always talked about
2:39
doing it. But then we do some other
2:41
calling that would fill. So like, you know, we at this
2:45
point, we've done Edward Scissorhands, we've done Sleepy
2:47
Hollow, we've done Sweeney Todd, we've done Wednesday.
2:53
I feel like we're missing 1, but we'll leave it there for now
3:01
because we'll probably do some more.
3:02
So yeah. So now it's finally time to talk
3:06
about. And I watched it and I loved it.
3:09
It was fantastic, beautiful. Such a good movie.
3:13
It's if you like costumes, this is definitely a film you should
3:17
see. But before we get too far into
3:19
it, Spencer give us a little summary for those who don't know
3:23
or need their memories jogged. I will.
3:26
Memoirs of a Geisha in the 1920s.
3:29
Nine year old Chio gets sold to a geisha house.
3:33
There she's forced into servitude, receiving nothing in
3:36
return. Also known as slavery, until the
3:40
house's ruling hierarchy determines if she is of high
3:43
enough quality to service the clientele.
3:46
Men who visit and pay for conversation, dance and song.
3:50
After rigorous years of training, Chio becomes Sayuri, a
3:54
geisha of incredible beauty and influence.
3:56
Life is good for for Sayuri, but World War 2 has about to disrupt
4:01
the peace and that is Memoirs of a Geisha.
4:03
As Memoirs of a Geisha. If you haven't seen it, go rent
4:07
it. I couldn't find it.
4:08
Just dream anywhere. Yeah, I think I ended up renting
4:11
it too. Which I was really surprised
4:13
about because this this is an Oscar nominated film for many
4:17
categories. Yeah, if.
4:20
You have a Netflix check there. I saw some Netflix rumblings but
4:23
might have been other, you know, like international Netflixes.
4:26
Maybe it's might be streaming for you, possibly if you live in
4:31
California, maybe not. Double check.
4:34
I wish I'd like searched it and it was like you can run it from
4:37
here, here and here. And I was like.
4:39
OK, at this point, after doing a podcast for four years as if it
4:43
doesn't come up immediately, I'm like, rent, Yeah.
4:46
I know it didn't even give me that many renting options.
4:49
I was like, OK, anyways, let's go.
4:52
Behind the costumes. We have Rob Marshall for our
4:55
director and as we said before, calling out what is our costume
5:00
designer. I feel like we need like a
5:02
Pokémon rap style version of her.
5:04
Notable work at this. Point.
5:06
I feel like we should just like prerecord and like.
5:10
Play it on 1/1. .5 just a little.
5:13
Faster like the the side effects of If you take this pill your
5:18
side effects will be Edward Scissorhands, Mars attacks, the
5:20
Little women, Sleepy Hollow, Chicago big fish members of a
5:23
geisha, My Chemical Romance welcome to the Black parade
5:25
Sweeney Todd. I also want our lands No way and
5:27
Huntsman into the woods. Fantastic piece.
5:28
Where to find him and Wednesday. And most recently, Beetlejuice.
5:33
Beetlejuice. That's what it is.
5:36
That was the one that we did. Yeah, we had the we had Colleen
5:42
that one on the talking about Beetlejuice.
5:44
Beetlejuice and knocked over. Sorry if I just blew everyone's
5:47
ears out. That's how I know we've done
5:51
this for so long. Oh man, that we're just going to
5:59
replay that every single time. Well, let's get into it,
6:04
Elizabeth. Get into it.
6:08
Colleen Outward would talk to Below the Line about some of her
6:13
inspirations for Memoirs of a Geisha, saying I went to Japan
6:18
and saw the work of Yamuji Takisha, which dates from the
6:23
beginning of the tea show period and Kiko period, and his art was
6:29
exactly the feeling I wanted the kimonos to have the whole
6:35
silhouette of the film. It was a great feeling to see
6:39
that and to find an artist of the the time that had the same
6:46
sort of mood I was envisioning. And I like it because definitely
6:55
her kimonos have like a much more like streamlined look to
7:05
them then I think you would generally see.
7:09
And because we'll get into it, her kimonos aren't exactly
7:13
traditional to the Japanese culture and what they usually
7:20
produce for their kimonos, but it conveys such a feeling and
7:27
really builds the world they're pulling you into.
7:32
Yeah, I mean, I'm, I'm not sure what you're behind the costume
7:36
facts look like, but generally the feels like the approach from
7:40
all the film makers was this was kind of an exaggerated
7:44
theatrical approach to the costuming, the sets, the make
7:47
up, a little bit of everything. I mean, this is the same crew
7:51
that just finished Chicago, so they're very much feeling
7:55
themselves after Chicago. Oh yeah.
7:58
And you can tell, she also said to below the line about, you
8:05
know, learning the world of kimonos.
8:10
You get a job and you have four months to get it together.
8:14
About a world that people study for their whole lives.
8:19
We began by deconstructing the typical kimono and making it
8:24
more sensual. In keeping with the film, I used
8:28
very few actual kimonos on principles, one of the main
8:32
reasons being because they were made for very small people, so I
8:38
tried to duplicate them. In our workshop we found rolls
8:42
of kimono fabric from Japan that we painted on, embellished,
8:48
embroidered. The really elegant geisha and
8:53
formal kimonos were all custom made and it shows.
9:00
Yeah, you can't really find kimonos like this.
9:02
No, you're going to have to custom make one or a million.
9:07
But yeah, I mean, if anyone could I, I I always find it so
9:11
impressive when a costume designer has to dive into this
9:14
world with such little time and really pulled together for
9:17
months. To get into Memoirs of a Geisha
9:20
is not easy, especially like all the kimono is not a simple,
9:25
simple garment. As we, you know, we, we had
9:28
Carlos Rosario on and talking about Shogun and just like all
9:32
the layers and like the different ways that, you know,
9:35
the fabric folds and is layered here and belted here and, and
9:39
all kinds. Of.
9:40
Yeah. And there's so much significance
9:42
to it. And you can't just, you know,
9:44
put this together and be like called a day.
9:47
So it's it's very tough work. Even the creation of the silks
9:51
to make them is like a super involved process.
9:55
It's like people have like generational family businesses
9:58
built around the construction of kimonos.
10:02
And as we've seen a film, very expensive.
10:05
Yes, and she in keeping with the fact that, you know, these were
10:11
custom made, they were theatrical, they were flashy.
10:15
Colleen did say to Entertainment Weekly a real geisha would never
10:20
wear anything that flashy, but it's good fun.
10:24
And I just thought it was beautiful.
10:27
We're just like, yes, yeah. Girl, that's.
10:30
Exactly what it was, and she explained a little more to Below
10:36
the Line about how involved these kimonos are saying Each
10:43
kimono outfit consists of 12 separate pieces.
10:47
We needed a lot of space because of the textile department and
10:51
making shoes and jewelry in house as well as making the
10:56
costumes and storing them. I found these great behind the
11:01
scenes photos of them practicing like the cherry blossom dance
11:09
and she's clearly wearing like a very light muslin mock up of
11:16
what she wears in the film to practice.
11:20
But I feel like you can see so much better just how much was
11:24
involved in that. Like it, It looks so wild and
11:30
like bulky and you can see all the different parts but then on
11:36
screen the fabrics they used and chose, the way everything blends
11:41
together it is. It looks so light and elegant.
11:47
It really is gorgeous. Yeah, I watched the behind the
11:50
scenes after that I'm guessing was on the DVD and the the
11:55
director said it was basically like their workshop was the size
11:58
of like a football stadium. It was like so big because they
12:01
need so much space for all this fabric in these big elaborate
12:05
trains and what not. It's it's quite the journey.
12:10
Memoirs of a Geisha Quite. The journey and after her break,
12:14
we'll jump into that journey. And I just also want to say too,
12:18
we have an appointment, important announcement to make
12:21
about the podcast as well. So we'll stick around to the
12:25
end. So we could talk about that as
12:27
well after we finished talking about memories of a geisha.
12:29
So don't go anywhere. Don't go anywhere.
12:37
Hi, I'm Dan, who does all the magic behind the scenes.
12:40
I wanted to say thank you. And if you want to support the
12:43
show even farther, go to tpublic.com/user slash The Art
12:49
of Costume, where you can buy a couple variations of our logo on
12:53
T-shirts, mugs and stickers. Also, be sure to leave a like
12:58
comment and subscribe. And if you're an audio listener,
13:02
leave us a Five Star review and Apple podcast.
13:05
Now back to the show, Elizabeth. I am so excited to get into
13:14
Memoirs of a Geisha, especially because it was actually filmed
13:17
not too far from home. Actually, a majority of the film
13:20
seem to be filmed at the Huntington Library.
13:22
I don't know if you noticed that.
13:25
No, I did not actually all. The scenes outside of the bridge
13:29
and the water that's just 5 minutes away from an art costume
13:33
podcast studio. I'm like, oh.
13:36
I love that you're watching all the behind the scenes.
13:39
Well, I noticed that watching the film, I was like, hey.
13:42
You've been to the Huntington a lot more than I have.
13:44
Though that is true. A lot more.
13:46
Oh yeah, you and I haven't gone together, have we?
13:48
No, we went once when I was visiting for LA Comic Con,
13:52
right? Yeah, 'cause I was like, I got
13:55
to go see this. Well, anyways, we're here and
13:59
we're ready to go. There's a lot of costumes to get
14:01
into, starting with the beginning of the story, which
14:03
feels a little, a little bit more tragic than the middle
14:06
part, I would say. Oh yeah.
14:08
Oh yeah, it definitely is. She is sold into a life of
14:14
slavery as a little girl. Yeah.
14:17
And, you know, at first she just wants her family back, but she
14:22
realizes that's not going to happen and tries to make the
14:26
best of a bad situation. But also in these opening
14:30
scenes, Colleen Atwood talked to Below the Line saying we wanted
14:38
to make it a theatrical film and to establish that right away.
14:43
It's a very subtle culture. It's so low key that for the
14:48
film we exaggerated a great deal.
14:52
We took total liberties. Most of the things that they
14:57
wore in the film, real geisha wouldn't wear.
15:02
It's much more extravagant because we had to tell a story
15:07
and deal with film and an impression of the timeline.
15:12
Yeah, which the timeline is so subtle, mostly because it's set
15:22
in a time and culture. It's the 1920s, but we're so
15:26
familiar with American 1920s that the beginning of Memoirs of
15:32
a Geisha just kind of feels timeless.
15:34
You can kind of see it in the chairman's like outfit, but so
15:41
much of Japan in this period is still wearing pretty traditional
15:45
dress. And I love that they reflect
15:48
that and that it kind of lets this first part of the story
15:53
just be about her and some of her interesting coworkers.
16:02
Shall we call? Them or sisters slash coworkers.
16:07
We have Hatsumono who I kind of love her and hate her all in the
16:13
same. Time bouquet.
16:14
So I also was kind of liking her, which.
16:19
Not a shocker for you. Not a shocker but I by the end I
16:23
was like alright. She had a pretty serious crash
16:25
out that I couldn't defend anymore but at first I was
16:29
loving her because she was kind of like this goth older sister.
16:32
Her hair was always slightly unruly, just like that's
16:35
straight black and just always having that wispiness to her.
16:39
I don't know, I was like at first I was kind of on Hatsu
16:42
Momo's side, but her crash out of later on just kind of sealed
16:48
it. I don't think I'm ever on Hatsu
16:50
Momo's side but I just love how she just like rules her little
16:56
Kingdom. Right.
16:58
Like it is. She's just cool.
17:03
Yeah. And and.
17:05
Shows in her costume. Absolutely.
17:07
That is what Colleen was trying to convey.
17:12
As she says to Below the line, Hatsumomo had a huge amount of
17:19
flair, and that was a lot of fun.
17:22
Her clothes weren't quiet. Yeah.
17:25
No, it's true. She.
17:27
That's an understatement. Yeah, any time she walked in a
17:30
room, like even that moment when they're at like the sumo match,
17:32
you see her walk in and like there she is ready to stir up
17:36
some sort of trouble. Yeah, always ready to stir up
17:39
trouble and like she's like, I've always saw her as like the
17:43
goth geisha because of this freaking fur trend.
17:50
Just work of art coat. It's so good, you know, you knew
17:55
I fell in love with it. Yeah.
17:56
When she slipped that little number on and you barely see it,
17:59
honestly, she wears it for like 2 seconds, 2 seconds.
18:02
And I was like, oh. But it's everything.
18:05
Yeah, it is everything. Oh man, I just love how she just
18:09
wears all the darkness on her. I don't know, I'm kind of
18:13
obsessed with this character. And Gong Li is an incredible
18:16
actress too. She really is.
18:18
Killed I Yeah, I don't know, like it's one of those
18:22
characters you're like, love the hater, hate the lover.
18:25
Yeah, yeah, actually perfect, perfect explanation and they
18:34
really built her up to be a foil to mommy Ha Michelle yell.
18:39
Yeah, one of our favourites of course, Colleen says to below
18:43
the line. Mommy Ha presented a certain
18:48
elegance and quietness that probably isn't going to be
18:52
noticed as much as the other characters.
18:56
It's always complicated to to design for a character like that
19:01
who is elegant in a quieter way. And I mean, I think we can all
19:10
agree that Michelle Yeoh is just the embodiment of elegance to
19:14
begin with. Timeless, Classic.
19:17
Classy extravagance. Everything, everything.
19:21
I love Michelle, yo, I didn't know she was in this.
19:24
And when she walked in, I was. I sat up.
19:27
She has her own Star Trek show now and I can't wait to start
19:29
watching it. I love you, Michelle yo.
19:33
But I think this was like the first film I ever saw her in and
19:38
really like recognized her as an as the actress, like could put a
19:44
name to the character. She really that is exactly what
19:49
she does. She has like the most beautiful
19:51
muted colors. She she's like a little bit
19:55
older than the other geisha, but you can tell she is just like
20:00
the geisha. Yeah, I mean.
20:02
She is that geisha. She is like the perfect geisha
20:05
and she doesn't need all the like extravagance of flair of,
20:09
you know, the the other characters because she's already
20:12
been there. She's been to the mountain top,
20:14
and she's at the, you know, she's already hit the peak of
20:18
her career at this point, and she's looking to bring in some
20:21
other people as well and, like, mentor our young character at
20:25
the same time. So yeah, I really like it.
20:27
Like, lots more muted color palettes to kind of let the
20:31
world around her shine as well, too.
20:35
Michelle Yeoh, please adopt me. And I also love her training
20:41
montage. Yeah, of course, I always have a
20:43
training montage. Especially when she's showing
20:48
her like the fan dance and like her private dance studio and
20:52
they're just wearing these beautiful robe like kimonos that
20:57
just let all the light through. You can like really see their
21:00
bodies and the movement. I'm like, talk about theatrical.
21:06
Yeah, and she I love where she has so Yuri walking in those.
21:10
Wild. Shoes, wild shoes with the I was
21:13
excited to see that actually, because I've seen those shoes
21:16
before in like pictures, never seen someone walk in them
21:18
before. So I was excited about that.
21:21
Like the laying down with your head propped up surrounded by
21:25
the right I. Would have failed.
21:27
Yeah, I do all sorts of flips on my sleeve.
21:30
So yeah, it was. It was just so, so beautiful.
21:34
And I love seeing them walk around in the street and just
21:37
Michelle Yeoh is giving vampire vibes.
21:40
Yes, I love this purple to white with like the cherry blossom
21:46
tree coming out of the bottom. It really is beautiful.
21:50
And then I also like that there's that like that, like
21:54
wine right in her OB that kind of complements Siri's pink and
22:01
red kimono. It kind of ties them together.
22:06
Yeah, they really are the perfect pair.
22:08
And I just, I just felt like everyone hating on Sayuri was
22:12
really frustrating because I was like, look at this like I just,
22:15
I was rooting for them so. Hard.
22:17
And I love her geisha debut Kimono.
22:22
Oh, so sweet. I'm like, you look so good,
22:24
girl. So beautiful.
22:26
I love the like flower piece and the hair.
22:30
The hair is pulled back just perfectly.
22:33
And of course, you really get to see all the layers of the kimono
22:35
and her debut kimono, because that one is very quite complex.
22:40
Oh yes, Oh yes. I also love like the little
22:45
cherry blossom hair piece because it's like, this is her
22:48
debut. She's young.
22:50
She's blossoming. Yeah, it was very sweet.
22:52
I I, I don't know. I just for some reason, Well,
22:56
it, it is a dark film in a way. Yeah, but I thought it was gonna
22:59
be darker, honestly. So I was kind of pleasantly
23:02
surprised. Yeah.
23:03
Because I was, I was staying down expecting like a very
23:06
serious bummer. But like the whole like middle
23:09
part of the film, I was like, I can actually vibe with this.
23:13
I'm enjoying actually. Cause it's been a minute since
23:16
I'd seen this film, re watching it the other night.
23:19
And it starts out and I'm like Oh my gosh, like this is dark.
23:25
This is sad. The whipping scene, I was like,
23:27
I was doing notes for Cleopatra, actually, and I kept looking up.
23:31
I was like, like, it's. So bad.
23:37
And then there's that moment with the chairman when she's
23:40
little and that like that like changes the whole tone of the
23:45
film in that just like 2-3 minute scene.
23:49
It turns it around, turns her perspective around.
23:51
She's like, OK. It gives the film color
23:54
actually, like when they put the flavoring in the ice actually it
23:58
like feels like it just brings color to the film.
24:01
Also a interesting moment too, but you know, we won't get into
24:05
that. Yeah.
24:09
I realized something watching it this time around that just went
24:12
over my head a million times before.
24:14
But anyway, we have the cherry blossom dance where in her first
24:23
year she's the main attraction to everybody's.
24:28
Well, to Hatsy Momo's disappointment, and Colleen said
24:36
to Entertainment Weekly, they don't usually have red on the
24:41
sleeves, sleeves of an under kimono.
24:44
Each character has a costume that I like a lot, but I love
24:50
the dance costume and I agree. Yeah, and Colleen really doesn't
24:55
spell out what her favorite costumes are.
24:57
So to me, that's like a big, big sign right there.
25:01
And it's like, I get it 'cause like, this whole scene is just a
25:07
triumph of choreography, acting, direction, set design, costume
25:17
design, lighting. Like top five.
25:22
Like I mean maybe OK if there is like a top 100 of best scenes
25:29
ever filmed, it would be a crime if this isn't in there.
25:33
Yeah, it's it's gorgeous. I was very captivated, like
25:36
everyone in the audience. I just couldn't take my eyes off
25:39
it. I love the costume and I love
25:40
the way that, you know, Colleen mentioned that the red on sleeve
25:44
typically doesn't happen, but the way it works against the
25:47
white snow is. So perfect.
25:51
It's gorgeous. I just, I, I couldn't get over
25:54
it when I was watching it. The sleeves are 42 inches long,
25:58
which I'm like, girl, how did you dance like that?
26:00
Yeah. Well, she was whipping around
26:02
those she. Was going everywhere there was.
26:04
Snow everywhere and I'm sure it's it's not real snow.
26:07
So I'm sure those cast members are finding fake snow and on
26:11
them for days. Oh yeah.
26:16
Oh yeah. But we have more Beautiful,
26:21
beautiful kimonos and obies. I particularly like this one
26:29
when she goes to the the count. That was that, That his name?
26:36
The Baron. The Baron, Yeah.
26:37
His party and Colleen said Entertainment Weekly.
26:43
Formal obies weigh a ton. Geishas all have dressers, guys
26:52
who wrap the OBS around, pull them and cinch them in, which
26:59
I'm like, that's like serious. And then Zee saying said to
27:04
Entertainment Weekly about the OBS.
27:08
Each time we put them on, it took at least an hour.
27:13
It has to be very tight and it was hard to drink or go to the
27:21
toilet because you don't want to bother the dressers, you know,
27:27
to take it off, put it back. So we just controlled the water.
27:35
That's rough, yeah. That's so rough.
27:37
But just really shows like how committed this like cast really
27:41
was to just really putting her all and gain into the characters
27:46
and making sure everything just felt, you know, as real as it
27:50
could be, as theatrical it was. They didn't want to skip on the
27:53
details like the OB. And they also didn't skip out on
27:58
the details when it came to World War 2.
28:01
I actually really loved these scenes, right?
28:03
Because I thought it, I think it took a lot of courage actually
28:07
to go from this very theatrical film and step into World War 2
28:11
and remove the colour almost entirely.
28:15
You know, you see. So Yuri and these very kind of
28:18
like drab, you know, Browns and basic and just like clothes
28:24
that, you know, they're obviously just working with what
28:26
they have on their on their back and they've lost everything at
28:30
this point. The whole life that they knew is
28:33
now gone at this. Point all gone and she really
28:35
thinks she's never going to get it back.
28:37
Yeah, well, it's very quick, but you do get to see it.
28:41
But you still get to see some of those indigo Blues too and the
28:45
villagers and but I got a shout out the production design too
28:48
though, because I love like the bright beautiful colors in the
28:52
fabric. That's like washing and drying
28:55
though. I was like, that was cool.
28:58
Not necessary, but loved it so. Cool, especially the way she's
29:02
talking to him in the fabric. It's just blowing it's long
29:06
fabric. Of course, of course her eyes
29:10
are still sparkling. I I understand why they would be
29:13
getting lost in those eyes. Yeah, yeah.
29:16
And she gets reunited with the chairman.
29:20
And I have to say, this is like another one of those like, Oh my
29:23
gosh, like the art department sets costume.
29:28
We're just all talking all the time because they've got this
29:32
bright silver World War 2 like bomber plane.
29:37
The chairman's wearing like an, like a monochromatic all way
29:43
outfit. It's just stunning.
29:46
And then Sarah is wearing this like, silvery blue, just
29:52
beautiful kimono. Like, honestly, this is my
29:57
favorite look of hers. Wow.
29:59
Yeah. I mean, she appears to him
30:01
almost like a ghost from the past.
30:02
You know, she's just almost like been revived and she's still not
30:05
fully there. I mean, she wasn't even
30:08
expecting to see the chairman in that moment.
30:10
So she's just in the like a state of like, she's lost and
30:14
confused, but also like kind of excited.
30:17
She was just happy to see. His friend and know he was still
30:19
alive like that's she's also reunited.
30:25
With Pumpkin, who really. Oh yeah, took.
30:27
On a. Interesting life since the last
30:30
time we left her, yes? She has I You really don't get
30:39
to know Pumpkin very much, except that like, they get
30:43
along, they're trying to, you know, watch out for each other.
30:49
And mother very much screws over a pumpkin.
30:56
With. For good reason, but she does
31:00
screw her over. Like no one wanted Hatsimomo in
31:04
control of anything. Also like mother.
31:07
Was always screaming over. This is true.
31:10
I don't know why. It was like a big shocker, like
31:12
mother was kind of apos, yeah. Right, her name's mother.
31:18
For crying out loud, that's never a good starting point, no.
31:22
Oh, mother. And I.
31:23
Love when we meet her and she's a entertaining the truth, yeah.
31:30
And she's. Just taken on this very Western
31:34
American look, yeah. And there I say, I feel like
31:40
she's, while she probably wouldn't admit it, I think she's
31:43
also in survival mode. I mean, this is, like very much
31:45
her trying to, like, adapt to the times.
31:48
Yeah. They even mentioned like at that
31:50
moment, like everyone who could just paint their face was just
31:53
saying that they could be a gauge of that moment, which is
31:54
just. To satisfy, Yeah.
31:56
Because they were they. Were it was losing the meaning
31:59
of it. So so of course we see pumpkin.
32:02
You're like, oh great, like pumpkins.
32:04
This is she's at the top of her career now and it's but not in,
32:09
but this is how she's making. Money and getting by, yeah.
32:12
So you can't blame her. No, you can't blame her.
32:15
And I do love the great little red dress she wears when they're
32:20
eating out. I'm like, I wish we had gotten
32:23
to see more of that 'cause that's like very like cute 1940s
32:27
little dress right there. I wish they introduced a.
32:30
Little bit more Pumpkin in the first half of the film, like she
32:33
was there, but it felt like the second-half they were like, this
32:36
is your moment. You get the whole second-half,
32:40
yeah. Yeah, and they really give her
32:43
her moment when she rolls up with the American troops and
32:48
just this like, wildly fun kimono.
32:51
Just like she looks like pop art brought to life.
32:54
She does. She looks like.
32:55
I don't know, an Andy Warhol painting or something.
32:58
She just rolls up very Americanized version of the
33:01
kimono. Absolutely.
33:03
Absolutely. And then in the final scene with
33:08
the chairman, we get Sayori in this beautiful, like, yellow
33:16
gold kimono that I really feel like it's like new light bring
33:21
being brought into her life. Yeah.
33:23
New purpose. Like, I thought it was a
33:26
beautiful but simple way to end it.
33:28
It was beautiful. And.
33:30
Like it was a great moment. I loved it.
33:33
Obviously like when he get into like obviously this is a man
33:36
who's in like, oh, it's like. Could be her father and could.
33:40
Probably been grooming her since she was like 5 for this moment.
33:45
But put all that aside, then you're like, OK, it's a gorgeous
33:48
moment. She looks beautiful in this
33:50
golden kimono. Also what I really love because
33:53
you you put like a great photo of the back of it, which I love
33:57
in the behind the scenes, Colleen that Wood and the
33:59
director were talking about how one of the ways to make it them
34:03
feel a little bit more sensual is that they dropped the
34:06
neckline and the back a little bit to short, a little bit more
34:08
neck. And that's very purposeful
34:09
because an actual kimono Onigaisha would never do this.
34:14
But this is one of their ways of kind of adding a little bit
34:16
more, a little bit more skin to it.
34:19
And I just feel like that's such like a great kimono that really
34:21
showed that when he walks up from behind her, yeah, she's
34:26
beautiful. She's glowing.
34:27
And you just, you feel happy for her 'cause you do.
34:29
Finally, she's achieved what she wanted.
34:32
I don't agree with the relationship but she got what
34:36
she wanted and good for her at this time it did.
34:39
Click in. When he was that, he asked
34:41
Michelle Leo's character to help her out.
34:44
I was like I've. Missed that the other.
34:48
Like 1520 times I've seen this film, I was always.
34:52
Like. Huh, 'cause I don't know, before
34:55
this I always thought like it didn't click for him till the
34:58
like the hot tub scene for lack of a better word.
35:06
Hot spring, I think. It's a hot spring.
35:08
There we go. And he's, she's telling the
35:12
story. And yeah, that's just what went
35:15
over my head. Yeah, he knew.
35:17
But you know what? Good for her, yeah.
35:21
You. Know she was.
35:22
Dealt a terrible hand in life, yeah.
35:26
And I think she's made the best of it.
35:28
She has. She has.
35:29
No, she's gone through it and so here we are.
35:31
I want to read the book. That's on my list.
35:33
I do too. I've.
35:34
I mean, it was a bestseller. Does that bring us to the end?
35:38
So I could tell you something. I thought it was such a good
35:41
film. It's such a good film, but I did
35:45
have one problem with it. When the cred said rolling and
35:50
I'm like watching behind the scenes, that's when I started
35:54
starting to get a little bit of an ick.
35:55
I'm like, alright, the director is a white man.
35:57
All the writers were just white American people, producers,
36:01
Steven Spielberg, which obviously no shade, but it's
36:04
like, I was like, I mean, he was money.
36:06
Yeah, and actually. A lot of the actors were
36:09
Chinese. So I I think from that point,
36:13
like I did lose a a star in our upcoming situating because I was
36:17
like, I just, I wonder what this film would have been if it was
36:21
like a truly like authentic to the period.
36:24
That's what I want. I give it to like, OK, it's
36:28
2005. Benefit of the doubt, like
36:30
glasses I'm wearing. So from that I'm like, all
36:33
right, it's the 2000. And five, this is how they got
36:36
it produced at all. Like, that's what it is.
36:39
The thinking was like, oh. This is the team that did
36:42
Chicago a theatrical dance. Yeah, conversation.
36:46
So then. They could do memories of
36:47
geisha. If this was coming out today, I
36:49
would not want that, no. Absolutely not.
36:53
I yeah, I would love to see a remake of this with a fully
36:57
Japanese cast and and like mostly.
37:00
Japanese artisans, I mean, you can find a balance for sure.
37:03
And absolutely, they've done it with Shogun.
37:05
That's what Shogun was that. Being said visually standing,
37:09
all the cast, even though if they weren't the cast, maybe I
37:12
would pick on paper, they all killed it.
37:14
They did. Not a single person in this film
37:16
didn't do their job and they all went through like geisha boot
37:20
camp and they learned how to pour tea and hold things and
37:25
open doors and walk and walk in those heels.
37:28
So you cannot take that away from anyone.
37:31
The costumers. Colleen Atwood killed it.
37:34
Production design killed it. And to the writers and
37:38
director's credit, it is beautifully written and
37:40
directed. So at the end of the day, I
37:43
still got to say look moving in the stitch rating.
37:45
I probably would give this a solid 4 though.
37:48
Same. Same and like.
37:51
Taking off my blinders, I might kick it up to a 4.5, but I'm
37:55
going to stick with a four. I'm going to stick with A4.
37:58
As well, the one costume to rule them all.
38:09
Spencer, what's your one costume to roll them all?
38:15
I I have to say, it was Hatsumomo's black fur.
38:21
Yeah. And just to me, it was so cool.
38:24
I, I was so cool. She's just kind of.
38:27
Like giving promotional photo? Come on, it's so cool.
38:31
It's giving goth and to me also reminded me of Rachel from Blade
38:35
Runner. Like there's something, there's
38:40
something kind of sci-fi don't pass out now there's something
38:45
kind of sci-fi fantasy about too.
38:47
It just felt like this just felt so beyond, I don't know, I felt
38:51
like we just entered another level where yeah, this is
38:53
definitely probably not historically accurate.
38:56
I was like, this is art, this is cinema, this is costume, this is
39:00
Colleen Atwood. I was just like, so in when I
39:02
saw her throw this coat on and then it ended like 3 seconds
39:05
later and I was like, wow, that was worth it.
39:08
I mean. Controversial opinion favorite
39:13
Colleen Atwood film. Wow.
39:17
Wow, I've never thought. Of that before.
39:20
Well, I come from the Mars Attacks land too, but wow,
39:26
that's interesting. I never thought of my favorite
39:28
Colleen Atwood film 'cause I. Mean.
39:32
She's. So her name is synonymous with
39:35
Tim Burton, right? And I think when you think of
39:39
Colleen Atwood, your first thought is going to be a Tim
39:43
Burton film. Yeah.
39:46
But she's so much more than that.
39:49
And she's a costume designer who can design for whatever she
39:55
needs to. And she knows.
39:56
How to do her research, You know this is she's.
40:00
A professional, a doctor I would say, like she could do anything
40:04
in any genre. A college out there give.
40:06
Her a doctorate of costume design if she doesn't already
40:09
have one please like. She is.
40:11
This is, yeah, it's an art form to like, understand these
40:15
cultures. And I would say like, you know,
40:18
I was kind of bashing a little bit on the production a little
40:21
bit. But watching Colleen, that would
40:23
work though. And behind the scenes, I was
40:25
like, Colleen Natwood went to Japan, though, and she went to
40:28
museums and she was reading the books and she was mean to people
40:31
and buying the fabrics. So, you know, I was learning
40:35
from kimono experts. So Colleen Natwood never cuts
40:39
corners. No So.
40:41
I don't know if this. Is my favorite Colleen Natwood
40:42
film, but I would have to think on it.
40:45
We'll we'll have that cover. Let us know costumers, what you
40:48
think, because I'll have to think on that one.
40:50
Maybe we should do a special? Where we just talk about a
40:52
costume designer. That'd be fun.
40:55
That would be fun. Do you want to know why?
40:57
One costume to roll in the wall? I don't.
41:00
Rude. No.
41:01
Oh, I don't. Know yours?
41:03
I would like to know yours. We need to have headphones.
41:09
I could actually hear Elizabeth because I definitely.
41:14
Asked Do you want to know? Oh yes, I would you.
41:16
Just said no, I told you the one costume.
41:20
No, of course I'd love to hear yours.
41:23
Mine is. Unsurprisingly, the dance
41:26
costume, the white, the red that see through umbrella, the 40
41:31
inch sleeve. The 12.
41:34
Inch platform shoes. Oh.
41:37
My goodness, it's just chef's kiss.
41:42
You really do love this. Film I do yeah.
41:44
Do you really lit up about this one?
41:46
And I actually thought I was forcing you to watch this one,
41:49
not at. All 'cause I feel like.
41:51
I was the one pitching it for all these years.
41:53
But no, she was just, she was been waiting for this moment.
41:56
I I always know. There's There's a time and a
41:58
place for a movie and for Memoirs of a Geisha.
42:02
It was Hot Girl summer 2025. Historical hot girls.
42:07
There you go. Well, that brings us to the end
42:10
of Memoirs of a Geisha. Like we mentioned at the top, we
42:14
do have an important announcement, so we're actually
42:16
going to take a quick little break and when we come back,
42:18
we're going to we're going to talk for a bit.
42:21
Yeah. All right, costume nerds, we are
42:27
back. As we mentioned at the top of
42:30
the episode, we do have a little bit of an announcement, a little
42:33
bit somber news around here at the Art of Costume podcast, but
42:38
we have been around for four years now.
42:41
We started in 2021. Elizabeth and I started the
42:45
podcast. I have an idea that Elizabeth
42:49
had and then it ended up us like I was recording in my closet
42:53
when we were recording the trailer we did trying to edit.
42:58
Yeah, we, I think we. Did Captain America first?
43:01
It took us 2. Nights because we had a little
43:03
too much to drink and we're just like a mess about it.
43:07
And also I didn't have a ceiling.
43:08
Fan in my bedroom at the time so it was hitting I was.
43:11
Sweaty. A good thing we didn't record
43:14
video. And at the time we were like, we
43:17
really need help. And we reached out to our best
43:21
friend Daniel, who was already like proficient editing and
43:25
audio. This is very much his world.
43:27
And he had offered to like show us may what to do.
43:30
But after he edited that first episode, Cruella, which by the
43:34
way, it still is like it was like the Cleopatra of our
43:37
costume podcast episodes. It was like a whopping 2 hours
43:41
getting close to three. It was almost as long as actual
43:44
movie. God bless anyone who.
43:45
Actually makes it three, yeah, so.
43:48
And Daniel did the best he could.
43:50
So we asked Daniel to be our editor at that point.
43:53
Well, he kind of actually asked us if he could be the editor.
43:56
And you never like, yes, so we've done four years ago, so
44:01
every, you know, week and weekend.
44:04
Daniel's been here editing all of our podcast episodes, all the
44:08
interviews. All the interviews.
44:10
All the bonus episodes I've been sending him, sometimes they're
44:13
20 minutes long, and sometimes I'll be, like, like, an hour and
44:17
a half. Yeah.
44:18
I hope you have a clear weekend. And he helped guests into
44:22
YouTube. He helped us, like, what should
44:25
a set look like? He helped us figure out what
44:28
mics to get, so and so forth. Daniel's been a big part of the
44:32
podcast. I feel like he's not dead.
44:36
I feel like that's what I'm getting at.
44:37
I think we'd be a lot more upset.
44:40
Yeah, I want to. Be sorry to watch, but Daniel is
44:46
no longer going to be with us after this episode.
44:50
Not for any, you know, one reason.
44:52
It's just we've had our time and Daniel would like to move on and
44:55
do other exciting projects. He has so many.
44:58
Like fun side things he does that like deserve his attention.
45:03
He plays the bass. He's learning Spanish right now,
45:06
he's in the photography, and I mean, they live in Vermont, so
45:09
they get to go on these great hikes.
45:11
I mean, Daniel really is the Renaissance guy and can't do
45:14
anything. He is designs video games.
45:16
Yeah. I mean, he could do it all.
45:19
So essentially, we've decided after these four years, it's
45:22
time for Daniel to move on and do other things.
45:25
I'm very sad. Me too.
45:27
I'm heartbroken. But I respect it and I'm happy
45:31
for Daniel. So, yeah, Daniel, thank you for
45:35
these four years. Thank you for.
45:38
Saving us at the beginning. We would not be here if that
45:41
hadn't happened. This podcast would not.
45:43
Be here. We do not have this community of
45:45
people listening to us every other week blab and yap about
45:50
random things. Elizabeth.
45:52
Taylor. 'S relationships and red dresses
45:55
and so forth. So this will be his last episode
45:59
with us that he's helping us edit.
46:03
And then so you're probably wondering, well, what's next?
46:07
Well, me and Spencer are going to edit.
46:10
Your crew full. Circle is learning how to edit
46:13
over here, so just keep that in mind the next month or two we if
46:19
something doesn't sound. Right if something doesn't.
46:22
Sound right, if we for some reason skip a week, like we plan
46:27
fully plan on having our regular schedule, but I'm just saying
46:32
anything could happen. We're entering unknown territory
46:36
at this point, so, so bear with us.
46:38
We have a great line up. We have like a summer adventure
46:41
line up coming up. We have, of course, our spooky
46:45
season already spelled out and then some fun stuff after that.
46:49
So more interviews. We're planning on doing all
46:52
that. But yeah, there might be some
46:53
changes we'll be editing. And then we've also talked about
46:57
some other projects that I think we'll also be starting as well,
47:00
maybe in a new year. So we're not going anywhere.
47:03
No, we're not. We love Daniel.
47:06
To death and we hope we all sent him all the great messages and
47:09
comments below and you know, let him know how thankful you heard
47:13
that he was able to do this for us for all these years.
47:16
So if I have, I don't want to go on too much 'cause I'll start
47:22
getting emotional. But Daniel, we, we appreciate
47:25
you and thank you all for listening to this week's episode
47:28
of Memories of Geisha. It was such a good one and I'm
47:32
looking forward to our next episode.
47:35
We'll. See you all in our next edition
47:38
of Historical Hot Girl Summer. We we have, I think we're
47:42
between two titles right now, so maybe we won't announce it quite
47:45
yet. But if it's a big epic film and
47:48
the leading lady you, you, you'll probably in good hands.
47:53
Yeah, absolutely. And if you just need to share
47:57
your thoughts about Memoirs of a Geisha with us, you can always
48:00
send us an e-mail at theartofcostume@gmail.com.
48:06
You can follow us on TikTok at the Arctic Costume or Instagram
48:11
at the Arctic Costume Pod. If you need a neat little mug,
48:17
you can go to thearcticcostume.com/pod store.
48:21
And as always, we would love it if you could leave us a five
48:25
star text review on Apple Podcast And if you.
48:29
Want to see all these beautiful costumes YouTube.
48:32
You need to follow us on YouTube.
48:34
Subscribe and leave some comments give us that little
48:36
cute thumbs up button. It's it's so much.
48:39
Fun guys like getting to see what we're talking about because
48:42
we're talking about something very visual.
48:44
Yeah. So it, it's so much fun.
48:47
It helps get you into it. Yeah, because.
48:50
I'll I'll, I'll admit, sometimes I don't know how to describe
48:53
something, say God, see the visual.
48:56
So YouTube is a very big supporter in that realm.
48:59
Thank you all for listening. That brings us to the end and
49:01
we'll see you in our next episode.
49:03
See ya.