The Barbarian and the Geisha

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Blu B For such a negative reputation it's not the broken disrespectful whitewashing of history through the eyes of the golden era you'd expect. It's suprisingly very respectful of Japanese culture. Really the only weak thing here is the editing which is just alright. It's a romance and a historical accounting of the internal politics of Japan opening its doors to the world. Problem is, while it makes sense perfectly fine, it never really makes the two work together cohesively. The feel like two completely seperate stories most of the time. That being said everything else is half decent here. The backdrops, location, costumes, color is gorgous to look at. The movie always throws new stuff like your a tourist seeing Japan effectively. It can be summed up as what this lacks in a cohesive story it makes up for with pure specticle kind of like Around the World in 80 days goes for. Wayne is ok here...he defintely is one of the weakest aspects. He's just...there most of the time and doesn't really get much development. He feels almost forgotten about a lot of times with his love and the setting taking up much of the runtime. The Japanese actors are all good though. Music can be a bit on the boring side but it's got a unique Japanese sound to it too that helps. Direction is pretty good though. It's defintely too slow at times and is lacking in areas but it deserves a better reputation than it has I have to sya. If your a hardcore Wayne fan and want to see a Golden Era take on Pre Imperial Japan be Hollywood maybe give this a try. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 05/14/25 Full Review Audience Member The Pro's are wrong about this picture. It's out of character for Wayne but the story & content go a long way for this one. I think you can watch it over and over with the whole family, year after year, and still catch things you missed previously. I think it keeps attention without the need for super violence, screenshots, and sex. Keep in mind this is a true story as you watch & you might just learn a thing or two. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/15/23 Full Review Audience Member I don't know if this is a true "love" story or one that has been passed down as tradition. But the film is beautiful. Townsend Harris was the first consul to Japan and did forge a hard won treaty with Japan. He lived as a hermit on his return to America and never married. I think John Wayne was magnificent in this role- such a departure from his usual fare. He worked with an uncooperative director far from home and any help or friends. The Japanese cast was fabulous and Sam Jaffe was wonderful as always! Another gem overlooked and under appreciated in my opinion. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/22/23 Full Review Audience Member I liked this movie.This movie is about Townsend Harris.Harris was the fiist American Consul General.John Wayne played Harris. I like the story.Harris was frustrated by hostile Japanese guys.But he met a nice geisha.She helped Harris.Harris also saved many Japanese in order to prevent a disease.Harris met Japanese leaders and negotiated about treaty.It seemed that he became a good tomodachi(friend) with Japanese. The film was beautiful.The film was shot in Japan.I liked a scene when Harris met the Japanese leaders at Edo(Tokyo) castle. I really liked an actor, So Yamamura who played one of Samurai.His English was excellent. This is a great movie on Japan.It is a great movie which we learn history of Japan,although there are a lot of historical inaccuracy of this movie. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/24/23 Full Review Audience Member not one of my favourites but ok Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/19/23 Full Review Audience Member John Wayne really didn't fit the role well. Otherwise, a pretty decent movie. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/13/23 Full Review Read all reviews

The Barbarian and the Geisha

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