Director Rob Marshall followed up the spectacle of Chicago with a story based on Arthur Golden's best-selling novel Memoirs Of A Geisha. It was a "sumptuous and absorbing" portrayal of an exotic world, although some critics felt it lacked the nuances of its source material. At the box office, it didn't perform as well as anticipated, taking just under $60m of its $85m budget.

Looking Back At Memoirs

It's been a long and winding road for Sayuri in getting from novel to screen as revealed in a 15-minute featurette. Novelist Arthur Golden and screenwriter Robin Swicord talk about the challenges of condensing the novel for film, which the latter calls "an interpretive art." There's also a glimpse further back into development when Steven Spielberg intended to direct the film himself. With Marshall finally on board, Geisha Bootcamp looks at the six-week run-up to production where stars Ziyi Zhang and Michelle Yeoh struggle to get to grips with the art of walking, sitting and pouring tea in authentic geisha style. "Once you put on the kimono," says Yeoh, "your whole posture changes."

Harder still is dancing in eight-inch platform flip-flops as Zhang was required to do for The Winter Dance. Cameras go behind the scenes of this lavish sequence in A Geisha's Dance featurette where the doll-like star modestly recalls, "After falling off the shoes many times, I just got used to them." Meanwhile costume designer Colleen Atwood talks about the modifications she had to make to Zhang's kimono to accommodate the movement. She goes into more detail about her Oscar-winning work in The Look Of A Geisha where Marshall admits, "I chose to take artistic licence," (in order to play up the sensuality of the geisha). That equates to slightly "less boxier" kimonos with deeper necklines at the back.

For those who thought that geishas were merely classy prostitutes, the crew along with technical consultant Liza Dalby set you straight in The World Of The Geisha. Dalby worked as a geisha herself and talks about these women as preserving the traditional Japanese arts above all else.

Geisha Unveiled

In a mellow but engaging commentary with co-producer and choreographer John DeLuca, Marshall talks about the life of a geisha, as "very Dickenisan" with Sayuri being brutally ripped from her family and having to grow up fast. He also highlights the "water imagery," which he says "represents Sayuri's journey" always moving forward as she faces adversity." Later on, DeLuca explains the story behind The Winter Dance as "a woman who decides to commit suicide." We can only assume it was having to wear those eight-inch platforms that tipped her over the edge...

This DVD could have used a more in-depth look at the history of the geisha and a focus on the production design that earned John Myhre an Oscar. Still, the featurettes do cover a lot of ground and are nicely complemented by a couple of behind-the-scenes photo galleries. (Filling out the extras menu are three text-based recipes for traditional Japanese dishes.) For those who enjoyed the film, it's a package worth uncovering.

EXTRA FEATURES