Memoirs of a Geisha
Movie, 2005, The 2000s, Set in Sayuri's theme
Memoirs of a Geisha is #22 of 29 in release order and #22 of 29 in chronological order in the John Williams.
The story
In the years before World War II, a penniless Japanese child is torn from her family to work as a maid in a geisha house.
Memoirs of a Geisha recap
Memoirs of a Geisha (2005) follows Chiyo Sakamoto, a fishing-village girl sold to a geisha house in Kyoto in 1929, who grows up to become the geisha Sayuri. Rob Marshall directs the period drama, adapted from Arthur Golden's 1997 novel and produced by Steven Spielberg. Young Chiyo (Suzuka Ohgo) is separated from her sister and taken in by the owner of an okiya, where the jealous star geisha Hatsumomo (Gong Li) torments her. After a failed escape, Chiyo is made a servant. Crying on a bridge, she is given a handkerchief by the Chairman Ken Iwamura (Ken Watanabe), and decides to become a geisha to be near him. Years later the rival geisha Mameha (Michelle Yeoh) takes the grown Chiyo (Zhang Ziyi) as her pupil and renames her Sayuri. Sayuri becomes popular, and a bidding war for her virginity makes her the okiya's heir, which embitters her friend Pumpkin (Youki Kudoh). Sayuri's theme, with cello solos by Yo-Yo Ma, follows her longing for the Chairman; the film follows Prisoner of Azkaban and precedes Munich.
Memoirs of a Geisha ending explained
Memoirs of a Geisha ends with the Chairman telling Sayuri he arranged for Mameha to train her, and the two finally kissing. Hatsumomo sets the okiya on fire and is thrown out, then war ends Sayuri's career. Afterward, the Chairman's partner Nobu (Kōji Yakusho) wants to become her patron, so she plans for him to catch her with an American colonel, but Pumpkin brings the Chairman instead. The casting of non-Japanese actresses as Japanese women drew criticism, and the novel's source, the former geisha Mineko Iwasaki, sued Golden.
Post-credits scenes
No. Memoirs of a Geisha has no mid- or post-credits scene.
Where to watch Memoirs of a Geisha
Memoirs of a Geisha isn't on a US streaming service right now. You can rent or buy it on Amazon, Apple TV, and Google Play.
Ratings
IMDb 7.3/10, Rotten Tomatoes 35%
Where it fits
- Release order: after Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, before Munich.
- Chronological order: after Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, before Munich.
Cast
- Zhang Ziyi as Sayuri
- Gong Li as Hatsumomo
- Michelle Yeoh as Mameha
- Ken Watanabe as Chairman
- Suzuka Ohgo as Chiyo
- Kaori Momoi as Mother
- Koji Yakusho as Nobu
- Youki Kudoh as Pumpkin
- Togo Igawa as Tanaka
- Mako as Sakamoto
- Samantha Futerman as Satsu
- Elizabeth Sung as Sakamoto's Wife
Directed by Rob Marshall.