Memoirs of a Geisha

Memoirs of a Geisha is a 2005 American epic drama film based on the novel of the same name by Arthur Golden, produced by Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment and Spyglass Entertainment and by Douglas Wick's Red Wagon Entertainment. Directed by Rob Marshall, the film was released in the United States on December 9, 2005 by Columbia Pictures and DreamWorks Pictures; the latter was given studio credit only. It stars Ziyi Zhang, Ken Watanabe, Gong Li, Michelle Yeoh, Youki Kudoh, Suzuka Ohgo and Samantha Futerman. Production took place in southern and northern California and in several locations in Kyoto, including the Kiyomizu temple and the Fushimi Inari shrine. The film tells the story of a young Japanese girl, Chiyo Sakamoto, who is sold by her impoverished family to a geisha house called an okiya. Chiyo is eventually transformed into a geisha and renamed "Sayuri", and becomes one of the most celebrated geisha of her time. But with this success, Sayuri also learns the secrets and sacrifices of the geisha lifestyle.

The film was released to mixed reviews from western critics and was moderately successful at the box office. It was also nominated for and won numerous awards, including nominations for six Academy Awards, and eventually won three: Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design. The acting, visuals, sets, costumes, and John Williams' musical score were praised, but the film was criticized for casting Chinese actresses as Japanese women and for its style over substance approach. The Japanese release of the film was titled Sayuri, the titular character's geisha name.

Plot
Chiyo Sakamoto, a young girl from a poverty-stricken fishing village, is sold along with her older sister Satsu into a life of servitude by her aging father. Chiyo is taken in by Kayoko Nitta, the Mother (proprietress) of a geisha house in Gion, one of the most prominent geisha districts in Kyoto, whereas Satsu is sold to a prostitution brothel.

At the okiya, Chiyo meets another young girl named Pumpkin, the cranky Granny, the gentler Auntie, and the okiya's only working geisha, Hatsumomo, who is famous for her breathtaking beauty. Chiyo soon discovers Hatsumomo is secretly a cruel and jealous woman that views Chiyo as a potential rival due to her striking bluish-gray eyes, along with being a change in Mother's future financial dependence. Hatsumomo then goes out of her way to deliberately make Chiyo's new life miserable by having her take the blame for everything and intentionally withholding information of her sister's whereabouts in the pleasure district. However, Auntie is aware of this and warns Chiyo against trusting and angering Hatsumomo, given her history with the ill-mannered geisha.

Chiyo tracks down Satsu and makes plans to run away together. However, upon returning to the okiya she discovers Hatsumomo with her boyfriend, Koichi, which is against Mother's rules for a geisha lifestyle. When they are caught, Hatsumomo attempts to twist the situation by accusing Chiyo of stealing. Chiyo denies this and informs Mother of what she saw in the shed. As a result, everyone is barred from leaving the okiya at night except to attend work engagements, and this further increases Hatsumomo's anger towards Chiyo. On the night of their planned escape, Chiyo attempts to sneak out but falls off the rooftop and is seriously injured. As punishment for dishonoring the okiya, Mother tells Chiyo that she won't invest any more money in her geisha training. She also informs Chiyo that both her parents are dead. Chiyo misses her chance to flee and never sees Satsu again. She is also demoted from geisha training to working as a slave to pay off her increasing debts to Mother.

One day, while crying on a riverbank, Chiyo is noticed by Chairman Ken Iwamura and his geisha companions. He buys her a shaved ice dessert and gives her his handkerchief with some money in it. Inspired by his act of kindness, Chiyo resolves to become a geisha so that she may one day become a part of the Chairman's life.

Several years later, Pumpkin has begun her training as a maiko under Hatsumomo's tutelage and Chiyo is envious of it as she remains a maid under Mother. She is unexpectedly taken under the wing of Mameha, one of Gion's most successful geisha and long time rival of Hatsumomo's. Although initially reluctant, Mother is persuaded by Mameha to allow Chiyo to train as a geisha.

Under Mameha's tutelage, Chiyo becomes a maiko and takes the name of Sayuri. She grows in popularity, and Hatsumomo grows so desperate that she tries to ruin Sayuri's reputation. Predicting this, Mameha takes her to a sumo wrestling match where Sayuri is reintroduced to the Chairman, who seems unaware of her previous identity as Chiyo, as well as his business associate Nobu Toshikazu (whom Hatsumomo finds repulsive), who takes a liking to her.

Meanwhile, Mameha orchestrates a bidding war for Sayuri's mizuage between two men: Nobu and Dr. Crab, which will make her a full geisha. Upon learning what Mameha has planned, Hatsumomo spreads cruel rumors that Sayuri has already lost her virginity. However, Sayuri is named the lead dancer for a popular performance, which angers Hatsumomo as she was hoping for Pumpkin to be named the lead. At the performance, she attracts the attention of many men, including the Baron (Mameha's danna), with her performance. When Dr. Crab congratulates Sayuri, she secretly convinces him to listen to a different opinion before taking the word of someone who lies.

The Baron invites Sayuri to his estate for a sakura-viewing party, which Mameha is reluctant to let Sayuri attend but lets her go anyway. When the Baron presents a kimono to Sayuri in private at the party, he undresses her against her will in order to "take a look", but does not go any further.

Sayuri's mizuage is won with a record-breaking bid of fifteen thousand yen. Mother, seeing Sayuri as a financial asset, names her as her adopted daughter and heiress to the okiya. This crushes Pumpkin, who was hoping that she would get adopted so she could have security in her old age, and enrages Hatsumomo. She is then told by Mother that she must give up her spacious room to Sayuri, which further outrages Hatsumomo, who tries to remind her of her previous financial contribution. Mameha later tells Sayuri that the bid had ended up a contest between Dr. Crab and the Baron, Nobu having refused to partake in the bidding because it was against his principles. Mameha let it go to Dr. Crab because of her romantic feelings for the Baron, despite his bid being even higher. When returning home from the mizuage ceremony, Sayuri finds a drunken Hatsumomo in her room, where she has found the Chairman's handkerchief. A fight ensues, during which a gas lantern is knocked over and ignites a fire, and the okiya is partially destroyed by the flames. Hatsumomo is then kicked out of the okiya by Mother, her belongings given to Sayuri, and she is banished from Gion with her fate left unknown.

Sayuri's successful career is cut short by the outbreak of World War II. Sayuri and Mameha are separated, with Sayuri going to the hills to work for a kimono maker, an old friend of Nobu's, and Mameha going to a physician, the Chairman's old friend. After the war, Sayuri is reunited with Nobu, who needs her help with impressing an American Colonel named Derricks (Ted Levine) who has the power to approve funding for the Chairman's firm. Sayuri reunites with Mameha, who now makes a living renting humble rooms. Although she is reluctant to return to the geisha lifestyle because she has come to terms with her new existence, she agrees to help impress Derricks. Sayuri is reacquainted with Pumpkin, who is now a flirty escort. Sayuri goes on a trip with Nobu, the Chairman, Mameha, Pumpkin, and the Americans to the Amami Islands.

At Amami, the Colonel propositions Sayuri, under the impression that geisha are expensive prostitutes, but she rejects him. Nobu witnesses the incident and confronts Sayuri. He finally confesses his feelings, telling her that he wants to become her danna. Knowing that entering into a relationship with Nobu will destroy any chance of her being with the Chairman, Sayuri is distraught and devises a plan. Mameha catches on to it and warns her against it because of the kindness Nobu has shown her. She wants Sayuri to accept him as her danna and not end up like she (Mameha) did. She refuses and enlists Pumpkin's help to have Nobu catch her seemingly being intimate with the Colonel. However, because of her secret resentment of Sayuri, Pumpkin brings the Chairman instead, having full knowledge of Sayuri's feelings towards him. When Sayuri confronts her, Pumpkin coldly tells her that it was retribution for stealing her chances of being adopted by Mother. She hoped that by having the Chairman see her with Derricks, he would be disgusted by Sayuri's behavior and disown her.

A few days later, after returning to Gion, Sayuri receives a call to go to the teahouse. Sayuri expects to see Nobu, but instead the Chairman comes and finally reveals to her that he has known all along that she was the girl at the riverbank. He tells her that he had told Nobu about the affair after confronting Pumpkin for her behavior, effectively destroying Nobu's affections for Sayuri and his desire to be her danna. He also reveals that he was responsible for sending Mameha to her so that she could fulfill her dreams of becoming a geisha. Sayuri finally reveals her love to the Chairman, and the film ends with their loving embrace and kiss, and a stroll through the garden.

Cast

 * Ziyi Zhang as Chiyo Sakamoto/Sayuri Nitta
 * Suzuka Ohgo as Young Chiyo Sakamoto
 * Shizuko Hoshi as Elderly Sayuri Nitta (voice-over narrator)
 * Gong Li as Hatsumomo
 * Samantha Futerman as Satsu Sakamoto
 * Mako as Mr. Sakamoto
 * Elizabeth Sung as Mrs. Sakamoto
 * Kaori Momoi as Kayoko "Mother" Nitta
 * Kotoko Kawamura as Grandmother Nitta
 * Ken Watanabe as Chairman Ken Iwamura
 * Kōji Yakusho as Nobu
 * Michelle Yeoh as Mameha
 * Youki Kudoh as Pumpkin
 * Zoe Weizenbaum as Young Pumpkin
 * Tsai Chin as Auntie
 * Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa as Baron
 * Cathy Shim as The Baron's Guest
 * Kenneth Tsang as General
 * Eugenia Yuan as Korin
 * Karl Yune as Koichi
 * Ted Levine as Col. Derricks
 * Paul Adelstein as Lt. Hutchins