Memoirs of a Geisha (2005)

Director:

Rob Marshall

Writers (WGA):

Robin Swicord (screenplay)
Arthur Golden (book)

Release Date:

23 December 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

Nitta Sayuri reveals how she transcended her fishing-village roots and became one of Japan's most celebrated geisha.

Plot Keywords:

Geisha | Japan | Jealousy | Love | Coming Of Age

Awards:

Won 3 Oscars. Another 17 wins & 28 nominations

Cast

Suzuka Ohgo	...	Chiyo
Togo Igawa	...	Tanaka
Mako	...	Sakamoto
Samantha Futerman	...	Satsu
Elizabeth Sung	...	Sakamoto's Wife
Thomas Ikeda	...	Mr. Bekku
Li Gong	...	Hatsumomo (as Gong Li)
Tsai Chin	...	Auntie
Kaori Momoi	...	Mother
Zoe Weizenbaum	...	Young Pumpkin
David Okihiro	...	Shamisen Teacher
Miyako Tachibana	...	Dance Teacher
Kotoko Kawamura	...	Granny
Karl Yune	...	Koichi
Eugenia Yuan	...	Korin

Also Known As:

Memorias de una geisha (Argentina) (Mexico) (Spain) (Venezuela) [es]
Die Geisha (Austria) (promotional title) (Germany) [de]
Мемуары гейши (Russia) [ru]
Anamniseis mias geisas (Greece) [el]
Bir geysanin anilari (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
En geishas memoarer (Sweden) [sv]
Geisha (Canada: French title) [fr]
Geishan muistelmat (Finland) [fi]
Mémoires d'une geisha (France) [fr]
Memórias de uma Gueixa (Brazil) [pt]
Memorie di una geisha (Italy) [it]
Mit liv som geisha (Denmark) [da]
Sayuri (Japan) [ja]
Wyznania gejszy (Poland) [pl]

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for mature subject matter and some sexual content.

Runtime:

145 min | Philippines:140 min

Country:

USA

Language:

Japanese | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Finland:K-11 | UK:12A | Australia:M | Singapore:PG | Ireland:12A | Czech Republic:12 | Sweden:7 | Argentina:13 | Hong Kong:IIA | Germany:12 | Netherlands:MG6 | Malaysia:18PL | Malaysia:U (cut version) | Indonesia:Dewasa | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | Brazil:14 | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Alberta/British Columbia/Canada Video Rating/Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Philippines:PG-13 (MTRCB) | France:Unrated | France:U | Singapore:NC-16 (special edition DVD) | Iceland:L | Hungary:14 | South Korea:15 | USA:PG-13 (certificate #41007) | China:(Banned)

Filming Locations:

American River, Sacramento, California, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

It took a lot of negotiating to get Rob Marshall to direct this film. Since he directed the hit film Chicago (2002) for Miramax, he owed his next film to them. This is a DreamWorks film. It was only because Miramax and DreamWorks have a long history of borrowing talent from each other that they were able to work out a deal.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: During the fight between Sayuri and Hatsumomo in Sayuri's room a crew member walks through the left side of the shot.

Quotes:

Chairman: It is too pretty a day to be so unhappy. Did you fall down? Why so shy? Nothing to be ashamed of, we all stumble from time to time. Do you see that enchanting lady in green? Once when she was just a maiko, she fell clean off her wooden shoes.
[laughs]
Geisha in Green: [laughs] It's true, I did.
Chairman: And now look at her, so elegant...
Geisha in Green: Mr. Chairman, shouldn't we hurry? We will miss the beginning.
Chairman: We see the spring dances every year, we can spare a moment. What's your name? Don't be afraid to look at me. Do you like sweet plum or cherry?
Chiyo: You mean... to eat?
Chairman: I like sweet plum myself. Come. None of us find as much kindness in this life, as we should. My children wait for these every spring.
[hands her the ice and spoon]
Chiyo: [looks at geisha by the tree, smears some of the cherry ice on her lips] Now I'm a geisha too.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Dialogue: An Interview with Screenwriter Robin Swicord (2007) (V)

Soundtrack:

Tosa No Sunayama

Duel in the Rising Sun

Looking over previous comments here, it is clear that this is a very polarizing movie experience, one that seems to put "Syriana" to shame in that realm. Director Rob Marshall has taken a best selling novel and turned out a feature film that it appears some people love and some absolutely hate. Count me in the first category, but allow me to indulge the critics, too.

First, this isn't a typical Hollywood film. Despite popular western misconceptions about Geishas, there's no sex, almost no violence and beyond that, there's nearly two and a half hours of women's problems that many men may find hard to relate to. This is not "Desperate Housewives" or even "All my Children." This is about deceit, treachery and rivalries as much as it is about a little girl who gets sold into bondage by her impoverished Japanese family. Its also about a lifelong search for love in a society in which people apparently can't just step up and make frank declarations of devotion to one another. This movie is in a word "complicated" and that is going to turn some American movie goers off.

But not all Asian film fans are raving about this movie either, some thinking it is a very superficial look at Japnese customs and others incensed that a movie that's about an important Japanese tradition should star three Chinese actresses. I cannot comment on either topic, since I know little or nothing about Japanese tradition and I don't know why Ziyi Zhang, Michelle Yoeh and Gong Li were cast. They have been seen before by American audiences, but are hardly film stars in this country, so it wasn't as if they were going to draw in tons of fans on their names alone.

The only thing I can think of is, all three are fine actresses and they more than proved that in this film. If Gong Li does not get a best supporting actress nomination, there's no justice. And Zhang should probably get a crack at best actress for her work, as well.

All three just light up the screen.

But, I can understand in this age of political correctness, how some would be offended by the casting and how others might complain about the handling of the Japanese subject matter.

All I can say is, movie makers face trade offs and one is either targeting your film to a mass audience (and in America, that means a generally poorly educated audience) or "narrow casting" your film to people very well acquainted with the topic who will swoop down on any flaw. But that, when dealing with a topic like Japanese geisha culture, is a pretty small audience in America, too small to generate the kind of box office a film like this needs to pull in to pay for itself. From a purely Anglo, American, unschooled in Japanese culture standpoint, I think Marshall made good decisions. I hope he has not slighted Japanese culture too much, but I think he has made a suspenseful, captivating, enchanting film that does something a lot of films haven't in recent years.

He gave us a complex central character we can pull for throughout the film and for that, I thank him.

"Memoirs of a Geisha" ranks among my five best films of the year thus far, and deserves a best picture nomination.