MAIKO HAAAAN!!! Viewed on DVD. Costumes = seven (7) stars; surround sound = five (5) stars; music = four (4) stars. Director Nobuo Mizuta presents a film about a man-child who is obsessed with a dream to play strip baseball (a variation of a Yakyuken party game) with Kyoto Geisha and especially with Maiko (apprentice Geisha). Mizuta, the screen writer, and the performers seem to throw everything they can think of into this ludicrous mess to enliven the monotony of a one-track slapstick movie (a lot of which looks improvisational). (Curiously, it appears that a fair amount of production resources went into this disaster: a big singing/dancing production number; baseball playing in a real (not CGI) stadium; expensive-looking costumes (see below); etc.) Actors pretty much limit their performances to mugging and screaming. Actresses actually act and usually do a good job. It is the beautiful Geisha/Maiko costumes, makeup, and hair styling (plus occasional brief glimpses of Kyoto beyond the back-lot, narrow-street sets) that more-or-less tie this ridiculous movie together. Surround field is okay. Music is not creative and distractedly loud. Subtitles seem fine. Usually bad movies become cult classics. Looks like this one was even below the bar for cultists. Recommend aggressive avoidance. WILLIAM FLANIGAN, PhD.
Review of Maiko haaaan!!!
