Memoirs of a Geisha (film)

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 having sex with her boyfriend, Koichi, which is against the rules of the 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, Mother forbids Hatsumomo from seeing Koichi again and 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 the friendship between the girls is shattered. Hatsumumo 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, but Mother replies that she never had a danna and that she acts more like a prostitute. 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 who has the power to approve funding for the Chairman's firm. Sayuri reunites with Mameha, who now makes a living renting humble rooms and has sold her kimonos and geisha ornaments to survive. 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 as she kept one kimono. 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

Pre-production
Shortly after the book's release in 1997, the filming rights were purchased for $1 million by Red Wagon's Douglas Wick and Lucy Fisher, backed by Columbia Pictures. The following year, Steven Spielberg planned to make Memoirs of a Geisha as the follow-up to Saving Private Ryan, bringing along his company DreamWorks. In the meantime, Spielberg's DreamWorks partner David Geffen had tried to persuade him not to take on the project, feeling it was "not good enough for him". Prior to Spielberg's involvement, the film was planned to be shot in Japan and with the Japanese language. By 2002, with Spielberg having postponed production for A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Minority Report and Catch Me If You Can, he stepped down from directorial duties to only produce. Wick and Fisher approached Rob Marshall, who was interested in doing a non-musical after Annie and Chicago. This brought a third company into Memoirs of a Geisha, as Marshall was still signed to release his next film through Chicago distributors Miramax.

The three leading non-Japanese actresses, including Ziyi Zhang, 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 tea ceremony.

Production
Production of the film took place from September 29, 2004 to January 31, 2005. It was decided by the producers that contemporary Japan looked much too modern to film a story which took place between the 1920s and 1940s 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, Hakone Gardens in Saratoga, and Downtown Los Angeles at the Belasco Theater on Hill Street. Towards the end of production, some scenes were shot in Kyoto, Japan, including the Fushimi Inari Taisha the head shrine of Inari, located in Fushimi-ku, Kyoto.

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.

Reception
In the Western hemisphere, the film received mixed reviews. In China and Japan, responses were sometimes very negative due to various controversies that arose from the film's casting and its relationship to history.

Western box office and reviews
Memoirs of a Geisha received mixed reviews from western critics. Illinois' Daily Herald said that the "[s]trong acting, meticulously created sets, beautiful visuals, and a compelling story of a celebrity who can't have the one thing she really wants make Geisha memorable". The Washington Times called the film "a sumptuously faithful and evocative adaption" while adding that "[c]ontrasting dialects may remain a minor nuisance for some spectators, but the movie can presumably count on the pictorial curiosity of readers who enjoyed Mr. Golden's sense of immersion, both harrowing and [a]esthetic, in the culture of a geisha upbringing in the years that culminated in World War II".

The film scored a 35% "Rotten" rating on Rotten Tomatoes; the consensus stated "Less nuanced than its source material, Memoirs of a Geisha may be a lavish production, but it still carries the simplistic air of a soap opera." On Metacritic, the film was given a 54/100 meaning "mixed or average review."

In the United States, the film managed $57 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 eight theaters tallied up an $85,313 per theater average which made it second in highest per theater averages behind Brokeback Mountain for 2005. International gross reached $158 million.

The New Statesman criticized Memoirs of a Geisha's plot, saying that after Hatsumomo leaves, "the plot loses what little momentum it had and breaks down into one pretty visual after another" and says that the film version "abandons the original's scholarly mien to reveal the soap opera bubbling below". The Journal praised Ziyi Zhang, saying that she "exudes a heartbreaking innocence and vulnerablity" but said "too much of the character's yearning and despair is concealed behind the mask of white powder and rouge". London's The Evening Standard compared Memoirs of a Geisha to Cinderella and praised Gong Li, saying that "Li may be playing the loser of the piece but she saves this film" and Gong "endows Hatsumomo with genuine mystery". Eighteen days later, The Evening Standard put Memoirs of a Geisha on its Top Ten Films list. Glasgow's Daily Record praised the film, saying the "geisha world is drawn with such intimate detail that it seems timeless until the war, and with it the modern world comes crashing in".

Casting controversy
Controversy arose during casting of the film when some of the most prominent roles, including those of the geisha Sayuri, Hatsumomo and Mameha, did not go to Japanese actresses. Ziyi Zhang (Sayuri) and Gong Li (Hatsumomo) are both Chinese at that time (Gong Li is a naturalised Singaporean from 2008 onwards), whereas Michelle Yeoh (Mameha) is an ethnic Chinese from Malaysia. All three were already prominent actors in Chinese cinema.

The film-makers defended the decision, however, and attributed "acting ability and star power" as their main priorities in casting the roles, and director Rob Marshall noted examples such as the Mexican actor Anthony Quinn being cast as a Greek man in Zorba the Greek.

Opinion in the Asian community was mixed. To some Chinese, the casting was offensive because they mistook geisha for prostitutes, and because it revived memories of wartime Japanese atrocities. The Chinese government canceled the film's release there because of such connections, and a website denounced star Ziyi Zhang as an "embarrassment to China." This was exacerbated by the word "geigi" (芸妓), a Japanese name for geisha used in the Kantō region, which includes Tokyo. The second character (妓) could sometimes mean "prostitute" in Japanese language, though it actually had a variety of meanings, and there was a clear distinction between geisha and prostitutes which were called "Yūjo" (遊女). The character 妓 only means "prostitute" in Chinese, and the correct translation into Chinese of the word "geisha" is 艺伎 (traditional Chinese: 藝伎), which does not use it.

In Japan, the reception was mixed. Some Japanese have expressed offense that the three main characters, Japanese geisha, were all played by Chinese actors. Others in Japan were unhappy with how the traditional role of the geisha portrayed, saying it was inaccurate and westernised. The expert who advised on Japanese geisha on the film, said that it wasn't made specifically for a Japanese audience, and that anyone who knew about Japanese culture and saw it would be "appalled". The film had only average box office success in Japan, despite being a high budget film about Japanese culture.

Other Asians defended the casting, including the film's main Japanese star Ken Watanabe, who said that "talent is more important than nationality."

In defense of the film, Zhang spoke: A director is only interested in casting someone he believes is appropriate for a role. For instance, my character had to go from age 15 to 35; she had to be able to dance, and she had to be able to act, so he needed someone who could do all that. I also think that regardless of whether someone is Japanese or Chinese or Korean, we all would have had to learn what it is to be a geisha, because almost nobody today knows what that means—not even the Japanese actors on the film.

Geisha was not meant to be a documentary. I remember seeing in the Chinese newspaper a piece that said we had only spent six weeks to learn everything and that that was not respectful toward the culture. It's like saying that if you're playing a mugger, you have to rob a certain number of people. To my mind, what this issue is all about, though, is the intense historical problems between China and Japan. The whole subject is a land mine. Maybe one of the reasons people made such a fuss about Geisha was that they were looking for a way to vent their anger.

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

Chinese responses
The film received some hostile responses in Mainland China, including its banning by the People's Republic of China. Relations between Japan and Mainland China were particularly tense due to two main factors: Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi made a number of visits to Yasukuni Shrine, which honors all Japan's war dead, including some who were convicted war criminals, which was denounced by China's foreign ministry as honoring them; and China helped to ensure Japan did not receive a seat on the UN Security Council. Writer Hong Ying argued that "Art should be above national politics". Nevertheless, the release of Memoirs of a Geisha into this politically charged situation added to cultural conflict within and between China and Japan.

The film was originally scheduled to be shown in cinemas in the People's Republic of China on February 9, 2006. The Chinese State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television decided to ban the film on February 1, 2006, considering the film as "too sensitive". In doing so, it overturned a November decision to approve the film for screening.

The film is set in Japan during World War II, when the Second Sino-Japanese War was taking place. During this time, Japan captured and forced thousands of Korean and Chinese women to serve as "comfort women" for their military personnel. Controversy arose in China because of the traditional geishas' relation to prostitution, and thus the connection with, and reminder of, comfort women being used in Japan at that time.

Newspaper sources, such as the Shanghai-based Oriental Morning Post and the Shanghai Youth Daily, quoted the fears that the film might 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 sex slaves.

A different controversy rose with the mentioning of a Japanese soldier that had fought in Manchuria, China, as the geisha introducing the soldier refers to him as a "war hero". Several other pro-modern-Japan scenes were delivered during the movie, thus receiving multiple reviews that read: "If the movie was meant to be released worldwide, there should have been caution not to affect the audience's view on modern history through pro-Japan ideology."

Awards and nominations
Academy Awards
 * Won: Best Art Direction (John Myhre and Gretchen Rau)
 * Won: Best Cinematography (Dion Beebe)
 * Won: Best Costume Design (Colleen Atwood)
 * Nominated: Best Original Score (John Williams)
 * Nominated: Best Sound Editing (Wylie Stateman)
 * Nominated: Best Sound Mixing (Kevin O'Connell, Greg P. Russell, Rick Kline and John Pritchett)

Golden Globe
 * Won: Best Original Score (John Williams)
 * Nominated: Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama (Ziyi Zhang)

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 (Ziyi Zhang)
 * Nominated: Outstanding Actress in a Supporting Role, Drama (Gong Li)
 * Nominated: Outstanding Art Direction & Production Design (John Myhre)
 * Nominated: Outstanding Cinematography (Dion Beebe)
 * Nominated: Outstanding Costume Design (Colleen Atwood)
 * Nominated: Outstanding Original Score (John Williams)

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 (Ziyi Zhang)
 * Nominated: Production design
 * Nominated: Make Up and Hair

Screen Actors Guild Awards
 * Nominated: Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role (Ziyi Zhang)

NAACP Image Awards
 * Nominated: Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture (Ziyi Zhang)

Soundtrack album
The Memoirs of a Geisha official soundtrack featured Yo-Yo Ma performing the cello solos, as well as Itzhak Perlman performing the violin solos. The music was composed and conducted by John Williams, who won his fourth Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score.


 * 1) "Sayuri's Theme" – 1:31
 * 2) "The Journey to the Hanamachi" – 4:06
 * 3) "Going to School" – 2:42
 * 4) "Brush on Silk" – 2:31
 * 5) "Chiyo's Prayer" – 3:36
 * 6) "Becoming a Geisha" – 4:32
 * 7) "Finding Satsu" – 3:44
 * 8) "The Chairman's Waltz" – 2:39
 * 9) "The Rooftops of the Hanamachi" – 3:49
 * 10) "The Garden Meeting" – 2:44
 * 11) "Dr. Crab's Prize" – 2:18
 * 12) "Destiny's Path" – 3:20
 * 13) "A New Name... A New Life" – 3:33
 * 14) "The Fire Scene and the Coming of War" – 6:48
 * 15) "As the Water..." – 2:01
 * 16) "Confluence" – 3:42
 * 17) "A Dream Discarded" – 2:00
 * 18) "Sayuri's Theme and End Credits" – 5:06