it painfully clear that all effort in this film be direct toward cinematography and very little attention to everything else . most obvious mistake be the miscast of the entire female cast . many of them be very experienced and capable and but they all seem out of place and and have an amateur director certainly do not help . the story be a very common geisha story and and character behave very inconsistently and thus make it extremely difficult for me to connect with the heroine . this movie theme be modern prostitution and but still and it be annoy how tsuchiya anna lead character keep talk like a female motorcycle gang member while everyone else speak in old japanese fitting for this setting . this movie have very beautiful vibrant color and similar to zhang yimou hero and but viewer can easily tell it film in a cheap and elaborate set . the two sequence with shiina ringo insert song be really nice though and in mid section of the movie . i actually really disliked her music before and but they fit perfectly in this movie . although ninagawa mika be a complete failure a a film director and she have a major potential in pv ( music video ) production . i believe the story felt very plain because the director fail to focus on character development and and because tsuchiya anna unconvincing act a an oiran . have this film be direct by a known jidaigeki director with any other known actress in japan and it would have have the potential to become a masterpiece .