A short outline of the film; A young girl name Chiyo was taken from her family along with her sister at a young age because her mother was dying and they couldn't afford the treatment. The two girls were sold to Geisha houses. Chiyo hated it and tried on many occasions to leave, after many attempts her Auntie of the geisha house decides she can no longer train to be a geisha and now must be a slave for the house. Chiyo becomes depressed and doesn't really understand her meaning of life till one day she meets a man who is kind to her and buys her a snow cone and tells her how he loves Geishas and treats them with a lot of respect. From that day on she trains hard to become the best geisha so one day she can be owned by him. The story goes on with love of course and how a different man falls in love with her but not the Chairman that she once met on the bridge. It isn't till the end you find out the Chairman loved her all along but never had the right chance to tell her.
Throughout the whole film the colour red is shown in most scenes through clothes, light coming in through windows or the props. Red represents many sides it can be seen as power, evil, sensual, joyful and can also be a visual courage.
The first true bright colour of red was shown when Chiyo meets the Chairman for the first time. He buys her a snow cone with is covered with a bright red liquid.
For me this red colour was foreshadowing the future and the relationship that will form between Chiyo and the Chairman. This represents the power of kindness and how the chairman is a nice man, but also the lust and the love Chiyo will develop for him throughout the film.
When Chiyo is training to become a Geisha , Mameha her mentor begins to talk to her about loosing her virginity to become a true Geisha. The lights in the houses are all shining out a warm rich colour red.
A warm dark red is seen to be quite sexual and a colour for love and sex.
When they all get sent to different countries because of the war. The opening scene after the war starts off by showing red within the water. When I first saw this it reminded me of all the blood that would have been shed from the war. I believe this is what the director wanted to portray.
Using red in this way showed the evil side of the red colour and how it isn't all joyful and happiness.
In the last scene of the film, Chiyo meets the Chairman again she is wearing a slight bit of that bright red within her kimono which was scene on the snow cone when they first met.
Other colours with big meanings were also show throughout the film. The colour orange is shown when Chiyo runs to say a prayer after meeting the Chairman. The colour orange represents naiveté on Chiyo's behalf thinking becoming a Geisha and getting close to the Chairman would be easy.
In one scene there is a classic use of colour of evil and pure,using black and white. Chiyo is wearing white and the evil older Geisha in her house called Hatsumomo is wearing black. Hatsumomo doesn't want Chiyo to win bidders and be known as a better Geisha than herself.
Another time a use of colour was used to represent a meaning and mood was after Chiyo was caught by the Chairman having sex with an american. She stands on top of a mountain and lets go of the handkerchief he gave to her when she was a little girl. Her dress that she is wearing is a grey colour along with the clouds the weather is dark a gloomy.
Grey as a colour is emotionless of used to portray loss and depression. For Chiyo this is the loss of respect the Chairman had for Chiyo and her feeling she will never become his Geisha.
Overall I feel the use of colour was used very wisely throughout the film the director never forced it in your face always left it within the background letting you feel the emotion without not always knowing why. I throughly enjoyed watching this film and would recommend it to other people.
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