Memoirs of a Geisha (film)

Memoirs of a Geisha
Film poster for Memoirs of a Geisha
Directed by	Rob Marshall
Written by	Robin Swicord
Produced by	Lucy Fisher Steven Spielberg Douglas Wick
Starring	Zhang Ziyi Ken Watanabe Gong Li Michelle Yeoh Youki Kudoh Suzuka Ohgo
Narrated by	Shizuko Hoshi
Cinematography	Dion Beebe
Edited by	Pietro Scalia
Music by	John Williams (composer) Yo-Yo Ma (performer) Itzhak Perlman (performer)
Distributed by	Sony Pictures Releasing (USA, Singapore, Netherlands) Buena Vista International (UK, Japan) Warner Bros. (Germany, Switzerland) DreamWorks (other areas)
Release dates	December 9, 2005
Running time	144 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	US$85 million

Memoirs of a Geisha is an Academy Award and Grammy Award-winning movie adaptation of the novel of the same name, produced by Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment and directed by Rob Marshall. It was released in the United States on December 9, 2005 by Columbia Pictures, DreamWorks and Spyglass Entertainment. It stars Zhang Ziyi, Ken Watanabe, Gong Li, Michelle Yeoh, Youki Kudoh, and Suzuka Ohgo. Ohgo plays the younger Sayuri in the movie, which was filmed in southern and northern California and in several locations in Kyoto, including the Kiyomizu temple and the Fushimi Inari shrine.

The Japanese release of the film was titled "Sayuri,"based on the main character who was renamed as Sayuri in the movie.

The DVD release of the film occurred on March 28, 2006.

Plot

In 1929 Japan, nine-year-old Sakamoto Chiyo and her older sister Sakamoto Satsu are sold by their parents to the Nitta Okiya. Chiyo is accepted, while her sister Satsu is sold to a brothel in the next hanamachi. Chiyo meets Mrs. Nitta, or "Mother," the mistress of the okiya; Pumpkin, a girl about her own age in training to be a geisha; and the only resident geisha, the beautiful but cruel Hatsumomo. Chiyo has the potential to become a great geisha, especially because of her unusual, beautiful blue-grey eyes. But because Hatsumomo cannot tolerate rivals, she abuses Chiyo, forcing her into ruining a kimono which belongs to Hatsumomo's bitter rival Mameha.

Chiyo finds out where her sister is living and they plot to run away together. The okiya gates have been locked, so she tries to escape over the rooftops, but falls off the roof and is discovered. As punishment for this betrayal, she must work as a maid and no longer attend geisha school. As she cries in the street, a man called the Chairman encounters her and shows her kindness. After this, she ardently wishes to become a geisha, in order to become a member of the Chairman's world. When Pumpkin becomes a maiko and Hatsumomo's younger sister, Chiyo, now age 15 and still working as a maid, learns that she frequents the same teahouse as the Chairman.

Soon after, Mameha visits the okiya to talk about training Chiyo to be a geisha; Chiyo becomes Mameha's younger sister and protégé and is introduced to Mameha's danna, the Baron. As an apprentice geisha, Chiyo receives the new name of Sayuri. She meets the Chairman again, as well as his best friend and business partner Nobu Toshikazu. Mameha instructs Sayuri to be close to Nobu in order to mislead Hatsumomo; she also encourages a relationship with Dr. Crab. Eventually, she creates a bidding war for Sayuri's mizuage (her virginity), between Dr. Crab and Nobu, although after Sayuri's appearance in an important dance show, the Baron is also interested. Dr. Crab pays a record amount of money.

Mother needs to adopt one of the geishas in the okiya as the heir; Mameha is determined to prevent Hatsumomo from becoming the heir and ruining Sayuri's future. Unfortunately, Pumpkin has been promised to be the heir, and she would just act as a puppet to Hatsumomo. Thus, Sayuri must become the okiya's most valuable asset; the record price for her mizuage aids in this. She becomes the most celebrated geisha in Gion, increasing Hatsumomo's jealousy. One day, Sayuri discovers Hatsumomo in her room holding the Chairman's handkerchief over a candle; a fight ensues. Hatsumomo knocks over the candle, starting a massive fire. She leaves the okiya, never to return.

Sayuri's new status as the head of the okiya and the most famous geisha, is short-lived when World War II breaks out. The Chairman provides Sayuri and Mameha with a place of safety, though they must work as servants. After the war, Sayuri meets Nobu, Pumpkin and the Chairman again and becomes a geisha once more. She is introduced to Colonel Derricks to convince him to invest in the Chairman and Nobu's company.

Nobu tells Sayuri he wants to be her danna--the man who sponsors a geisha. However, Sayuri still has feelings for the Chairman and schemes to prevent Nobu from becoming her danna. She asks Pumpkin to bring Nobu to a place where he will "discover" Sayuri and the Colonel together in a passionate embrace. Pumpkin instead brings the Chairman because she resents Sayuri for interfering with her plans to become the heir to the okiya. When Nobu hears of this, he cannot forgive Sayuri. The Chairman eventually reveals that he knew all along that Sayuri was once Chiyo, the little girl to whom he showed kindness. Only because he told Mameha to seek out the girl with the blue-grey eyes did Chiyo become the geisha Sayuri. The film ends with Sayuri and the Chairman sharing a kiss and strolling on the banks of a river.

Casting controversy

Some of the central characters in the movie were not played by native Japanese actresses, notably, the adult version of the lead role is played by a Chinese actress, which sparked controversy.

Korean-Canadian actress Sandra Oh advocates inter-Asian acting. In a magazine article (Bust Magazine June/July 2005), she defends her roles as characters of Japanese (e.g. Rick) and Chinese descent by pointing out similar behavior from white actors who play European characters interchangeably:

Ralph Fiennes can play an English person, a German person, a Polish person, a Jewish person. He can play anything, and no one questions him. He is a handsome, Caucasian-looking-ish man. So, to American audiences, Europe looks like that. Europe does not look like that. But that is the image we have been fed for 60 years, so we accept that. But what I have big problems with is when people put those limits on me. I just think, "Give me a fucking break. You have no idea what I am." Because when you meet someone, you never say, "I met Joe Schmoe, and he's Irish-French." But there always has to be a quantifier or qualifier when it comes to me. --Sandra Oh, Bust Magazine

Roger Ebert has also pointed out that the film was made by a Japanese-owned company, and that Gong Li and Zhang Ziyi outgross any Japanese actress even in the Japanese box office.

In China, the casting of ethnic Chinese actors caused a stir in the Chinese Internet community where some users were unhappy due to rising nationalist sentiment, especially because some mistook geisha for prostitutes. A profession similar to that of the geisha existed in imperial China, whose job it was to entertain male guests with their talents in music, Go, calligraphy, painting and other arts. However, they did not enjoy the status accorded to geisha in Japan. This was exacerbated by the word geiko 芸妓, a Japanese name for geisha used in the Kansai region, which includes Kyoto. The second character 妓 can be understood by some to mean "prostitute", though it actually had a variety of meanings.

Production

Pre-Production

The three leading actors (Zhang Ziyi, Gong Li, and Michelle Yeoh) were put through "Geisha boot camp" before production commenced, during which they were trained in traditional Geisha practices of musicianship, dance, and Japanese tea ceremony.

Production

Production of the film took place from 29 September 2004 to 31 January 2005. It was decided by the producers that contemporary Japan looked much too modern to film a story which took place in the 1920s and '30s and it would be more cost-effective to create sets for the film on soundstages and locations in the United States, primarily in California. The majority of the film was shot on a large set built on a ranch in Thousand Oaks, California which was a detailed recreation of an early twentieth-century geisha district in Kyoto, Japan. Most interior scenes were filmed in Culver City, California at the Sony Pictures Studios lot. Other locations in California included San Francisco, Moss Beach, Descanso Gardens in La Cañada Flintridge, Sacramento, Yamashiro's Restaurant in Hollywood, the Japanese Gardens at the Huntington Library and Gardens in San Marino, and Downtown Los Angeles at the Belasco Theater on Hill Street. Towards the end of production, some scenes were shot in Kyoto, Japan.

Post-Production

In post-production one of the tasks of the sound editors was to improve upon the English pronunciation of the international cast. This sometimes involved piecing together different clips of dialogue from other segments of the film to form new syllables from the film's actors, some of whom spoke partially phonetic English when they performed their roles on-set. The achievement of the sound editors earned them an Academy Award nomination for Best Achievement in Sound Editing.

Reaction

Despite significant hype prior to release, reviews for Memoirs of a Geisha were generally poor. The film scoring a 35% "Rotten" rating on Rotten Tomatoes and 54/100 on Metacritic.

In the United States, the film managed only $57.0 million during its box office run. The film peaked at 1,654 screens, facing off against "King Kong", "The Chronicles of Narnia" and "Fun with Dick and Jane". During its first week in limited release, the film screening in only 8 theatres clocked up a $85,313 per theatre average which made it second in highest per theatre averages behind Brokeback Mountain for 2005. International gross reached $158 million.

Awards and nominations

Golden Globe

• Won: Best Original Score - Motion Picture (John Williams)
• Nominated: Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama (Zhang, Ziyi)

National Board of Review

• Won: Best Supporting Actress (Gong Li)

Satellite Awards

• Won: Outstanding Screenplay, Adapted (Robin Swicord)
• Nominated: Outstanding Motion Picture, Drama
• Nominated: Outstanding Director (Rob Marshall)
• Nominated: Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture, Drama (Zhang Ziyi)
• Nominated: Outstanding Actress in a Supporting Role, Drama (Gong Li)
• Nominated: Outstanding Art Direction & Production Design (John Myhre)
• Nominated: Outstanding Cinematography (Robert Elswit)
• Nominated: Outstanding Costume Design (Colleen Atwood)
• Nominated: Outstanding Original Score (John Williams)

Academy Awards

• Won: Best Achievement in Art Direction
• Won: Best Achievement in Cinematography
• Won: Best Achievement in Costume Design
• Nominated: Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score
• Nominated: Best Achievement in Sound
• Nominated: Best Achievement in Sound Editing

BAFTA Awards

• Won: The Anthony Asquith Award for achievement in film music (John Williams)
• Won: Cinematography (Dion Beebe)
• Won: Costume design (Colleen Atwood)
• Nominated: Best actress in a leading role (Zhang Ziyi)
• Nominated: Production design
• Nominated: Make Up and Hair

Screen Actors Guild Awards

• Nominated: Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role (Zhang Ziyi)

Banned in the People's Republic of China

The film was originally scheduled to debut in cinemas in the People's Republic of China on February 19, 2006, but the release was put on hold. Newspaper sources, such as the Shanghai-based Oriental Morning Post and the Shanghai Youth Daily, quoted the fears that the film may be banned by censors; there were concerns that the casting of Chinese actresses as geishas could rouse anti-Japan sentiment and stir up feelings over Japanese wartime actions in China, especially the use of Chinese women as forced sex workers. On February 1, 2006, the film was declared banned in theaters of the People's Republic of China.

Differences in the novel

• In the novel, the Chairman gives Chiyo the money for ice, and she buys it herself. However, in the film, the Chairman buys it with her.
• Nobu has only one arm in the book, yet he has not lost a limb in the movie. His face still remains scarred, though.
• In the book it is frequently said that maids also live in the Okiya along with the protagonists, while in the movie, maids are seen only on the day of Chiyo's debut as Sayuri.
• The fire scene (Sayuri's room bursts into flame after a scuffle between her and Hatsumomo) that leads to Hatsumomo's downfall doesn't happen in the book. The book portrays the downfall of Hatsumomo as a slow downward spiral culminating with a final push from Mameha and Sayuri. Hatsumomo was finally expelled from the Okiya when she attacked an important client one night. In the novel, it is rumored that Hatsumomo ended up being a prostitute, while in the movie her fate is never mentioned. The last scene of Hatsumomo in the film, is when she leaves the Okiya after Sayuri and Mother put out the fire, with Sayuri looking at her out the window as she leaves.
• In the novel, Sayuri does not discard the Chairman's handkerchief, which is how she finally reveals her true identity to the Chairman. In the movie, it is almost burned when Hatsumomo puts it above a candle, leading to the fire scene when Sayuri stops her. After Pumpkin betrays her, Sayuri lets it fly away in the wind.
• Hatsumomo's cruel nickname for Chiyo/Sayuri, "Little Miss Stupid," is not used in the film, nor is Pumpkin's geisha name, Hatsumiyo.
• In the novel, it is Sayuri who gives Pumpkin her nickname, but in the film, Auntie and Mother are already calling her by that name when Sayuri arrives at the Okiya.
• In the novel, it is also Sayuri who gives Dr. Crab his nickname, prior to the way the doctor looks like in the novel.
• In the film, it isn't revealed how Granny dies. Instead, it is said that she has died when Mameha arrives at the Okiya to discuss Chiyo's geisha training with Mother. In the book, she actually is killed from electrocution by a heater ironically sold to the Okiya by the Iwamura Electric Company. Mameha, visiting the Okiya to pay her respects, finally finds the blue-eyed girl described to her by the Chairman.
• The transitions between the different stages of a geisha's career are rushed in the film; the mizuage does not signify the 'graduation' from maiko to geisha in the book, whereas it does in the film - after her mizuage, when Sayuri returns to the Okiya, Mother tells her she is a full geisha now.
• Little mention is made in the film of Sayuri's career as a full geisha.
• In the novel, Sayuri and her sister are sold off after Chiyo runs into Mr. Tanaka Ichiro, a man whose family owned a store called the Japan Coastal Seafood Company. Struck with awe at her eye color, Mr. Tanaka convinces Chiyo's father to sell his two daughters. The movie skims over these details, and skips to the part where the two girls are torn from their family in the beginning of the film at night in Yoroido. Mrs. Tanaka and Kuniko, their daughter, do not appear in the film, as well as the village of Senzuru.
• In the novel, the man Nobu introduces to Sayuri is a Japanese Minister, Sato. Minister Sato is substituted for Colonel Derricks in the film.
• In the novel, it is unclear as to whether or not Mameha learns of the Baron's undressing of Sayuri, whereas she openly does in the film.
• In the novel, Sayuri actually has two danna, though not at the same time: General Tottori and then the Chairman. Sayuri eventually joins the latter in New York City, permanently residing there and running a teahouse while the Chairman comes and goes. She moves to New York City in order to prevent the Chairman's future son-in-law from not marrying his daughter, the son-in-law believes that there is a possibility that Sayuri has produced an illegitimate son with the Chairman.
• When she falls off the roof of the Okiya after attempting to run away with Satsu, Chiyo is not beaten. Auntie stays with her while she is lying in bed and reads Mr. Tanaka's letter for her. However, Chiyo does get beaten when Hatsumomo accuses her of stealing money, just before Mother slaps Hatsumomo for having a boyfriend in the Okiya.
• Instead of Granny who usually does the beating, Mother does it. As usual, Auntie interferes, so Chiyo does not get beaten very badly.
• When Mother and Auntie learn of Mameha's kimono being ruined, Mother pours a bucket of water on Chiyo before beating her badly. Auntie then takes over the beating so that Chiyo does not suffer the same fate as her. In the novel, the bucket of water is poured over Chiyo after her runaway attempt.
• When Sayuri embarrasses Hatsumomo, the joke is not about her hair. Instead, when Hatsumomo says 'I was a maiko myself once,' Sayuri responds by saying, 'Of course, but it's been such a very long, long, long, long time.'
• When Sayuri has to cut herself to be able to talk with Dr. Crab, she and Mameha do the wounding themselves whereas Mameha recruits a maid and the cook from her old Okiya to help her create a wound on Sayuri's leg, in the book.
• Even before Mameha visits Mother to talk about Chiyo's training, Pumpkin has already become a maiko while in the book, Pumpkin has yet to become a maiko.
• Mameha's mizuage cost ¥10,000 in the movie and was either ¥7000 or ¥8000 in the book. Also in the book, Sayuri's mizuage cost ¥11,500, but it is ¥15,000 in the movie.
• In the book, Chiyo/Sayuri is the year of the monkey, but in the movie, she is the year of the rooster.
• In the movie, after World War II, Pumpkin is influenced by American culture already - she drinks sake a lot, speaks like an American, and enjoys jazz music.
• The film does not end with Sayuri migrating to New York with the Chairman. Instead, the ending ends with she and the Chairman kissing and strolling together along the river, implying she is still a geisha.
• In the novel, when Hatsumomo is trying to get Chiyo thrown out of the Okiya for stealing, she plants money on her, and then claims Chiyo has stolen her obi brooch, only for the brooch to be found hidden years later. In the film, there is no brooch.
• Sayuri's dance occurring before her mizuage, which is based on the story of a courtier whose wife dies of cold as her husband goes to meet his mistress, is actually performed by Mameha in the novel. Sayuri's dance involves a maiden who falls in love with an enchanted dolphin prince.
• The hanamachi ('flower town,' a town where geisha live and entertain) in which the Nitta okiya is situated is not named in the movie--Sayuri and the other geisha are only described as living in Miyako (Kyoto). In the novel, we are informed that the Nitta okiya is in the Gion hanamachi.
• Hatsumomo interacts with the Baron, Mameha's danna, in the movie, whereas she never meets him in the novel. Also, on the same occasion, a dance Sayuri performs in the teahouse with Mameha on shamisen does not appear in the novel.
• Sayuri and Mameha never confront Dr. Crab about Hatsumomo's lies about Sayuri. Instead, after Sayuri's dance, which the Doctor attends, she asks him never to believe Hatsumomo.
• Uchida, Mameha's friend who is an artist, does not appear in the movie. The poster of Sayuri in the lead role in the dance is instead shown when Hatsumomo hears rumors about it. It is implied that Sayuri does not know about it, because when Hatsumomo angrily tears the poster from the wall and shows it to Mother and Auntie, Sayuri takes it and looks at it with a puzzled expression.
• Mrs. Kishino, the old woman living in the Tatsuyo, does not appear in the film. Satsu's new name, Yukiyo, also does not appear in the film.
• In the novel, when Hatsumomo follows Sayuri with the intention of ruining her career as a geisha, she is heard telling an embarrassing story (in which she pretends that the subject is Sayuri) to a client while in Sayuri's presence. This is not seen in the film.

Trivia

• On a recent visit to Tokyo to promote the film, Ziyi Zhang received a mysterious parcel and letter, revealed to have been sent by an elderly Japanese woman who had once worked as a geisha. In her letter, the woman stated that she had been touched by the trailer of the film and expected the movie to bring back fond memories for her and her friends. Inside the parcel were several exquisitely worked antique kimono. Ziyi Zhang was moved to tears by the gesture and sent the woman an invitation to the film's Japanese premiere

Interviews

• Ziyi Zhang Memoirs of a Geisha

External links

• Memoirs of a Geisha Official Movie Site – Must be 18 or older to buy the DVD or PSP from here
• Memoirs of a Geisha at IMDb
• http://www.movies.co.jp/sayuri/ - SAYURI, the Japanese release of this film
• HelloZiyi.us: Memoirs of a Geisha
• Michelle Yeoh Web Theatre: Memoirs of a Geisha
• Memoirs of a Geisha fanlisting
• MonkeyPeaches: Memoirs of a Geisha
• Zhang Ziyi CSC: Memoirs of a Geisha Synopsis, picture gallery, trailers, news, discussions
• Japanese Trailer: Memoirs of a Geisha
• Discussion paper by Tomoyuki Tanaka in the electronic journal of contemporary japanese studies
• Exploration of the many controversies surrounding the film
• "Memoirs of a Geisha" Movie review by Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times, December 16, 2005.