Memoirs of a Geisha (2005)

Memoirs of a Geisha is a 2005 American epic drama film based on the 1997 novel of the same name by Arthur Golden,^[2] produced by Steven Spielberg (through production companies Amblin Entertainment and DreamWorks Pictures) and Douglas Wick (through Red Wagon Entertainment). Directed by Rob Marshall,^[3] the film was released in the United States on December 9, 2005, by Columbia Pictures and DreamWorks Pictures, with the latter receiving studio credit only.

The film tells the story of a young Japanese girl, Chiyo Sakamoto, who is sold by her impoverished family to a geisha house (okiya) to support them by training as and eventually becoming a geisha. The film centres around the sacrifices and hardship faced by pre-WW2 geisha, and the challenges posed by the war and a modernizing world to geisha society.

The film stars Ziyi Zhang, Ken Watanabe, Gong Li, Michelle Yeoh, Youki Kudoh, Suzuka Ohgo, and Samantha Futerman. Production was split between southern and northern California and a number of locations in Kyoto, including the Kiyomizu temple and the Fushimi Inari shrine.

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 the musical score (composed by John Williams) 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.

In 1929, Chiyo Sakamoto, a young girl living in a poor fishing village by the sea, is sold to a geisha house by her father alongside her sister, Satsu, so that they might send money back home. Chiyo is taken in by Kayoko Nitta, the "Mother" (proprietress) of a geisha house in Miyaki, Kyoto, whereas Satsu, deemed too unattractive, is sent to a brothel instead. Chiyo meets "Granny" and "Auntie", the other women who run the house, and the okiya's only working geisha, Hatsumomo, who is beautiful but cruel. Chiyo meets another young girl nicknamed Pumpkin, who she becomes friends with.

Hatsumomo, seeing Chiyo as a potential rival, especially with her striking blue-gray eyes, intimidates Chiyo into acting as her servant. Chiyo and Pumpkin soon begin training as geisha at a nearby school, alongside hundreds of other girls. One night, Hatsumomo, returning drunk from a night out, forces Chiyo to destroy a kimono belonging to Mameha, Hatsumomo's geisha rival, before returning it to her house. Mameha catches Chiyo, who is blamed for its destruction and punished by being lashed, and is told that her debt to the okiya has increased even more.

Hatsumomo, who hopes Chiyo will run away, tells Chiyo where she can find her sister Satsu in the red light district. They make plans to run away the following night. When Chiyo returns to the okiya, she finds Hatsumomo having sex with her boyfriend, Koichi, whom she is not supposed to be seeing. When caught, Hatsumomo lies, framing Chiyo for stealing and attempting to run away, but Chiyo tells Mother of Hatsumomo's affair with Koichi. Mother forbids Hatsumomo from seeing Koichi again, with everyone barred from leaving the okiya at night except to attend work engagements. The next night, Chiyo sneaks out to meet Satsu and accidentally falls off a rooftop, causing serious injury. Mother stops investing in Chiyo's geisha training and instead makes her a servant to the okiya to pay off her debts. Mother then tells Chiyo that her parents have died; Chiyo never sees Satsu again.

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 and some money. Inspired by his act of kindness, Chiyo resolves to become a geisha so that she might become a part of the Chairman's life.

Several years later, Pumpkin debuts as a maiko, an apprentice geisha, under Hatsumomo's tutelage. Shortly afterwards, Chiyo is taken under the wing of Mameha, who persuades Mother to reinvest in Chiyo's geisha training, promising to pay her twice over after her debut. Chiyo becomes a maiko and takes the name of Sayuri. Mameha introduces Sayuri to the Chairman and Toshikazu Nobu - the Chairman's business partner - at a sumo match. Nobu takes a liking to her, though Sayuri prefers the Chairman. To increase her popularity, Mameha orchestrates a bidding war for Sayuri's mizuage (the right to take her virginity), after which she will become a full geisha.

Hatsumomo starts spreading rumors that Sayuri has already lost her virginity, making it difficult to secure bidders. To counter this, Mameha arranges for Sayuri to perform as the lead dancer for a popular dance performance, enraging Hatsumomo with jealousy. Sayuri's performance attracts the attention of several men, including the Baron, Mameha's danna. When Dr. Crab, a potential bidder, congratulates Sayuri at the after party, she convinces him not to listen to Hatsumono's lies. The Baron later invites her to come to his estate for a cherry blossom-viewing party. When the Baron presents a kimono to Sayuri in private, he undresses her against her will, but does not go any further.

Sayuri's mizuage is won with a record-breaking bid of fifteen thousand yen. Mother decides to name her as her adopted daughter and the heiress to the okiya, crushing Pumpkin and enraging Hatsumomo. When returning home from the mizuage ceremony, Sayuri finds a drunken Hatsumomo in her room, where she has found the Chairman's handkerchief. The two fight and a gas lantern is knocked over, igniting a fire. The okiya is saved and Hatsumomo is banished from Gion. Her fate is left uncertain.

Sayuri's successful career is cut short by the outbreak of World War II. In 1944, working geisha districts are closed, with many of Gion's geisha evacuated to cities which are primary bomb targets. The Chairman sends Mameha to work as an assistant for a doctor, while he sends Sayuri to the countryside, where she works for a kimono maker. After the war ends, Nobu asks Sayuri to help him impress an American Colonel who could approve funding for their business. Sayuri reunites with Mameha, who reluctantly agrees to help Sayuri impress the Colonel. Sayuri is reacquainted with Pumpkin, who is now working as an escort. Sayuri travels with Nobu, the Chairman, Mameha, Pumpkin, and the American soldiers to the Amami Islands. The Colonel propositions Sayuri, but she rejects him. Nobu confronts Sayuri after seeing the proposition and confesses his desire to become her danna. Sayuri devises a plan to have Nobu catch her being intimate with the Colonel, hoping that he will lose his feelings for her, and enlists Pumpkin's help to do so. However, Pumpkin's resentment of Sayuri leads her to bring the Chairman instead. When Sayuri confronts her, Pumpkin coldly tells her that she acted in revenge of Sayuri's adoption.

After returning to Miyaki, Sayuri receives a summons from a nearby tea-house. Expecting Nobu, Sayuri is instead surprised to see the Chairman, who confesses that he always knew of her identity, but refused to interfere with Nobu's feelings out of respect. The Chairman also tells Sayuri of having organized for Mameha to become her mentor. Sayuri confesses her love to the Chairman and they share a kiss, before taking a quiet stroll through the teahouse garden.