Memoirs of a Geisha

........................................~Memoirs Of Geisha~..................................

Memoirs of a Geisha tells the story of a young girl, Chiyo Sakamoto, who is sold into slavery by her family. Her new family then sends her off to school to become a geisha. This movie is mainly about older Chiyo and her struggle as a geisha to find love, in the process making a lot of enemies. The film was nominated and won numerous awards, including nominations for six Academy Awards, and eventually won three: Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design.Memoirs of a Geisha is a 2005 film adaptation of the novel of the same name, produced by Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment and Spyglass Entertainment and by Douglas Wick's Red Wagon Productions. It was directed by Rob Marshall. It was released in the United States on December 9, 2005 by Columbia Pictures and DreamWorks. It stars Zhang Ziyi, Ken Watanabe,Gong Li, Michelle Yeoh, Youki Kudoh, and Suzuka Ohgo. Ohgo plays the younger Sayuri in the movie, which was filmed in southern and northern California and in several locations in Kyoto, including the Kiyomizu temple and the Fushimi Inari shrine.

The Japanese release of the film was titled "Sayuri", based on the main character who was renamed from Chiyo to Sayuri upon becoming an apprentice geisha (or maiko).

The film, set in Japan during the Showa Era, tells the story of Chiyo Sakamoto (portrayed by Suzuka Ohgo as a child, and byZhang Ziyi as an adult), a young, poor, Japanese girl with blue eyes who is sold along with her older sister Satsu into a life of servitude by her parents when she is nine years old. Chiyo is taken in by the proprietress of a geisha house, Mother (Kaori Momoi), but Satsu is rejected and is sold to another house in the "pleasure district" of the Hanamachi. At the okiya (geisha house) she meets another young girl named "Pumpkin" (Youki Kudoh). Both girls are sent off to geisha school but Chiyo dishonors the okiya by attempting to run away and then is forced to work to pay off the debt of her purchase and the soiling of a silk kimonoowned by a well-known geisha, Mameha (Michelle Yeoh), which Chiyo was blackmailed into defacing by another geisha, Hatsumomo (Gong Li), who is famous, beautiful and cruel who also lives in the okiya. Chiyo is beaten in the courtyard by Mother, but Auntie convinces her to let herself take over, telling Chiyo that she will "beat you hard, so Mother will not beat you harder." Mother is seen indoors listening to the radio, and turns the volume up louder so as to ignore Chiyo's screams.












































































































































































































































































































































































































Cast

• Zhang Ziyi as Sakamoto Chiyo/Nitta Sayuri
• Ken Watanabe as the Chairman/Iwamura Ken
• Gong Li as Hatsumomo
• Michelle Yeoh as Mameha
• Kōji Yakusho as Nobu
• Youki Kudoh as Pumpkin
• Kaori Momoi as Mother/Mrs. Nitta/Okasan
• Tsai Chin as Auntie
• Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa as the Baron
• Suzuka Ohgo as Young Sakamoto Chiyo
• Kenneth Tsang as the General
• Karl Yune as Koichi

Soundtrack album

"Sayuri's Theme" – 1:31The 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.

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