> The subtlety and ambiguity is in stark contrast to something like...
> Memoirs of a Geisha, which has received such praise for its score. Is it
> just me, or did it sound completely derivative of The Last Emperor, only
> "Japanified"? :-/

Yes indeed.

If a reader needs any proof of this, just listen to track 3 of "Memoirs of a Geisha" ("Going to School"), and then listen to the (18 years prior) 10th track of "The Last Emperor" (Main Title Theme, by David Byrne). The Geisha sequence is such a verbatim quote of the opening 20 or so seconds of the Last Emperor track that I find it very difficult to believe that Williams thought he could get away with this. I instead think he may have meant it as some kind of tribute, perhaps.

A fair score anyway, though. Not nearly as good as "Munich", in my opinion. "Munich" I uphold to be Williams' 2nd greatest score EVER, second only to Schindler's List.