Memoirs of a Geisha (2005)

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

Director:

Rob Marshall

Writers:

Robin Swicord (screenplay), Arthur Golden (book)

Stars:

Ziyi Zhang, Ken Watanabe, Michelle Yeoh

Won 3 Oscars. Another 29 wins & 48 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

In the 1920s, 9-year-old Chiyo gets sold to a geisha house. There, she is forced into servitude, receiving nothing in return until the house's ruling hierarchy determines if she is of high enough quality to service the clientele -- men who visit and pay for conversation, dance and song. After rigorous years of training, Chiyo becomes Sayuri, a geisha of incredible beauty and influence. Life is good for Sayuri, but World War II is about to disrupt the peace.

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Plot Keywords:

chinese actress playing japanese character | sumo | geisha | japan | jealousy | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Details

Official Sites:

Apple.com (Quicktime) Sony Pictures [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English Japanese

Release Date:

23 December 2005 (USA)

Also Known As:

Memorias de una geisha

Filming Locations:

American River, Sacramento, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$85,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$682,504, 11 December 2005

Gross USA:

$57,490,508

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$162,242,962

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation, DreamWorks, Spyglass Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

145 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Steven Spielberg, Brett Ratner, Spike Jonze and Kimberly Peirce all considered directing this film.

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Goofs

Sayuri is the Year of the Monkey, not the Rooster.

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Quotes

Auntie: [with Chiyo, folding kimonos] Only reason Mother tolerates Hatsumomo is because she brings in good money. Never forget, it is Hatsumomo who pays for your supper, the clothes on your back. By the time she was twenty, she had already earned back her purchase price. Unheard of! She has been the talk of the hanamachi ever since.

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Connections

Referenced in Disaster Movie (2008)

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Soundtracks

Shika No Tone (Distant Calls of Deer)
Written by Kinko Kurosawa
Performed by Tajima Tadashi
Courtesy of Network Medien GmbH Frankfurt Germany

User Reviews

more than everyone is saying

personally, i don't know what everyone was so anxious about before viewing this movie. i had heard a lot of praise about the cinematography and the depth and emotion of the storyline. who cares if the actors were of different race? i know a lot of people will take offense to that, but being an Asian-American myself, it didn't bother me too much, since it wasn't what i thought of while watching the movie. who has time to think of different dialects and someone being Chinese when a beautiful story of the life of a geisha is being told.

i thought maybe the movie would not live up to the book, but i felt the adaptation was done well. although some of the casting could have been done better, i got chills from mother, angry at hatsumomo, and grew respect for the character of mameha, just as i had from the book. the movie did a fine job establishing the highly disciplined world of a geisha, a world where many sacrifices are to be made.

all in all, the movie was fantastic, and if people could just look beyond the issue of worrying about the nationality of a character who is supposed to be Japanese (and to me, its not a huge issue) I'm sure you will enjoy the movie.