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Memoirs of a Geisha Our rating: Rate this movie   MPAA rating: PG-13 (for mature subject matter and some sexual content) Genre: Drama, Romance Theater release: December 09, 2005 by Columbia Pictures Wide release: December 16, 2005 Limited release: December 09, 2005 Directed by: Rob Marshall Runtime: 2 hours 24 minutes Cast: Ziyi Zhang (Sayuri Nitta), Ken Watanabe (The Chairman), Michelle Yeoh (Mameha), Koji Yakusho (Nobu), Kaori Momoi (Mother), Tsai Chin (Auntie), Youki Kudoh (Pumpkin), Gong Li (Hatsumomo), Suzuka Ohgo (Chiyo) Related: Talk About It/Family Corner

Chiyo's eyes have seen much heartache: Her mother on her deathbed. Her penniless and grieving father brokering a deal to sell his children. Her screaming sister being suddenly ripped from her arms because she's not deemed worth the investment. And this is all before Chiyo celebrates her 10th birthday. Despite the pain they've witnessed and wept, these eyes—with their rare grey-blue intensity—are Chiyo's only hope for the future. They give her a unique, stunning beauty and make two women who run one of the countless okiyas (homes for geishas) in Kyoto see her as a wise investment. Perhaps she could one day bring their house money. Perhaps, with the right training, she could become a geisha.

Suzuka Ohgo as the young Chiyo, who becomes a geisha in training

Soon Chiyo (Suzuka Ohgo) attends classes to learn how to dance, play instruments, sing, and pour tea, all with the flair and exactness of the geisha tradition. Though this new world is fascinating and colorful, Chiyo is dogged by thoughts of her sister and by Hatsumomo (Gong Li), the reigning geisha of their humble okiya. Hatsumomo is one of the most beautiful geishas in Kyoto, but her actions toward Chiyo are anything but pretty. She torments the young girl with false accusations that bring Chiyo brutal punishment from Mother (Kaori Momoi), the merciless woman who runs the okiya. Still, it's Hatsumomo's earnings that support all those in the house.

Mother finally tolerates Chiyo's seemingly bad behavior no longer when her attempt to run away with her sister, who's been forced into prostitution, fails. Mother pulls her out of geisha classes and forces Chiyo to be the okiya's servant. A life that has gotten darker and darker finally seems pitch black as Chiyo faces long grueling days of physically demanding chores and no hope of ever seeing her family again. But one day when she's out in the bustling streets of Kyoto, a handsome stranger treats her with rare kindness. And soon after, one of Hatsumomo's rivals, Mameha (Michelle Yeoh), the premier geisha in the district, takes Chiyo under her wing. Finally Chiyo has that rare and essential gift: hope.

Ziyi Zhang plays the grown-up Chiyo who gets a new name—Sayuri

As Chiyo transforms into a geisha in this new chapter of her life, she's also given a new name: Sayuri. The rest of the film centers on the politics and intrigue of Sayuri's introduction into the geisha world—including trying to land a good danna (patron) and get a lucrative bid for her mizuage (virginity). These will help pay off the debt she owes to Mother and win Mameha's bet with Mother that she could transform Sayuri (Ziyi Zhang) into a successful geisha. But Hatsumomo is bent on thwarting Mameha's plans, and Sayuri finds herself perhaps being promised to the coworker and good friend of the man she secretly loves—The Chairman (Ken Watanabe). Even though she meets The Chairman at the young age of nine, working herself into his life becomes her driving goal. And in a world where so much that happens to her is out of her control, even having a dream that is all her own is powerful.

Those who have read Arthur Golden's book by the same name will notice subtle differences in the plot and characters. Of course elements of this 400-page bestseller have to be left out, but the most striking difference I noticed was the shift in several main characters. Mother doesn't seem as gnarled and mean, Nobu (Koji Yakusho) isn't as deformed and gruff, Sayuri doesn't seem as utterly hopeless and then lovelorn, Hatsumomo seems more like a caricature than a cunning and calculating opponent. Basically, they've taken some of the bite out of the story.

Hatsumomo (Gong Li) is the beautiful but mean-spirited reigning geisha in the okiya

The scenery, staging, lighting, and costuming here—the film is set in the late 1920s—are all so dazzling and colorful, you almost forget this is basically a story of human trafficking. Unlike director Rob Marshall's last theatric masterpiece, Chicago, this film is based on events that really happened. No, Sayuri isn't inspired by a real woman, but there were countless Sayuris who lived some rendition of her simultaneously bleak and beautiful existence. Somehow that staggering fact gets lost somewhere in the beautiful imagery. And while all these masterful sights and sounds work well with a campy, vampy flick like Chicago, they seem somehow out of place here. I would have liked to see a little less dazzle and a little more grit. A less rushed pace, especially as Mameha teaches Sayuri all the ways of the geisha, and more time taken to let the characters feel their disappointments and longings. A little less wide-eyed wonder and a little more fleshing out of Mameha's warning to Sayuri: "We do not become geisha to pursue our own destinies."

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