Memoirs of a Geisha (Widescreen Two-Disc Special Edition) |  | Director: Rob Marshall
Actors: Ziyi Zhang, Ken Watanabe, Michelle Yeoh, Suzuka Ohgo, Togo Igawa
Studio: Sony Pictures
Category: DVD
List Price: $19.94
Buy Used: $1.95
as of 2/10/2010 07:47 EST details
You Save: $17.99 (90%)
New (37) Used (158) Collectible (4) from $1.95
Seller: jessica_buenning
Rating:  347 reviews
Sales Rank: 8376
Format: Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Languages: English (Original Language), Japanese (Original Language), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), French (Dubbed)
Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Region: 99
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
Number Of Discs: 2
Running Time: 145 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.6
MPN: COLD11159D
UPC: 043396111592
EAN: 0043396111592
ASIN: B000EHRVMY
Theatrical Release Date: December 23, 2005
Release Date: March 28, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
In the years before wwii a japanese child is torn from her poor family to work at a geisha house. Despite a treacherous rival who nearly breaks her spirit the girl blossoms into the legendary geisha sayuri. Beautiful & accomplished sayuri captivates the most powerful men of her day but love eludes her Studio: Sony Pictures Home Ent Release Date: 10/03/2006 Starring: Zhang Siyi Michelle Yeoh Run time: 145 minutes Rating: Pg13
Amazon.com
Chicago director Rob Marshall's pretty but empty (or pretty empty) film has all the elements of an Oscar® contender: solid adaptation (from Arthur Golden's bestseller), beautiful locale, good acting, lush cinematography. But there's something missing at the heart, which leaves the viewer sucked in, then left completely detached from what's going on. It's hard to find fault with the fascinating story, which traces a young girl's determination to free herself from the imprisonment of scullery maid to geisha, then from the imprisonment of geisha to a woman allowed to love. Chiyo (Suzuka Ohgo), a young girl with curious blue eyes, is sold to a geisha house and doomed to pay off her debt as a cleaning girl until a stranger named The Chairman (Ken Watanabe) shows her kindness. She is inspired to work hard and become a geisha in order to be near the Chairman, with whom she has fallen in love. An experienced geisha (Michelle Yeoh) chooses to adopt her as an apprentice and to use as a pawn against her rival, the wicked, legendary Hatsumomo (Gong Li). Chiyo (played as an older woman by Ziyi Zhang), now renamed Sayuri, becomes the talk of the town, but as her path crosses again and again with the Chairman's, she finds the closer she gets to him the further away he seems. Her newfound "freedom" turns out to be trapping, as men are allowed to bid on everything from her time to her virginity. Some controversy swirled around casting Chinese actresses in the three main Japanese roles, but Zhang, Yeoh and Gong in particular ably prove they're the best for the part. It's admirable that all the actors attempted to speak Japanese-accented English, but some of the dialogue will still prove difficult to understand; perhaps it contributes to some of the emotion feeling stilted. Geisha has all the ingredients of a sweeping, heartbreaking epic and follows the recipe to a T, but in the end it's all dressed up with no place to go.--Ellen A. Kim
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 347
 Riddled with inaccuracies and racial stereotypes January 19, 2010
S. Zeleny (Portland)
Having lived in Japan and studied the geisha culture, I really wanted to love this movie. My chief annoyance with this film is the fact that the director tried to tell a uniquely Japanese story with a predominately Chinese cast and an American perspective.
Considering the film centered around the lives of maiko (apprentice geisha) and geisha, one might think that the film makers would do a bit of research. After all, they hired Peter MacIntosh, one of the few foreigners allowed access to the "flower and willow world", as a location adviser. In spite of this, the film is riddled with cultural inaccuracies. The costuming, hairstyles, make-up, dancing, and numerous other aspects are horribly wrong. This is not a mere nitpick-- anyone who is familiar with geisha understand how important all of those aspects are. I read that the director wanted to tone down the geisha look for American audiences, which is not only ridiculous, but insulting all across the board. Why try to tell a story if you're not really going to tell it?
While the actresses are certainly very beautiful, much of the acting is wooden. Ziyi Zhang is stunning in a kimono, but looks lost and uncomfortable in the English role. Strangely enough, it is the two supporting characters "Mother" (Kaori Momoi) and the adult "Pumpkin" (Youki Kudoh) who end up stealing the show.
I could go on in my diatribe, but instead I'll just advise you to turn to other sources if you're interested in Japan or geisha culture. Mineko Iwasaki, whose story Arthur Golden based his book on, has written a wonderful and enlightening auto-biography on her life as a geisha. Liza Dalby is a cultural anthropologist, an expert on Japanese and geisha culture, and the only westerner ever to become a geisha and be accepted into their hidden world. She has written many wonderful books on the subject, as well as a novel about the Heian era.
By no means am I harping on artistic liberty when it comes to film-making, but I do believe directors and producers have a responsibility when it comes to other cultures. If you're looking for two hours of entertainment and nothing else, then give this movie a go. But if you're looking to actually learn on the subject, I'd suggest a different route.
Probably not a good idea to watch this right after reading the book... January 15, 2010
Robert Schmidt (Honolulu, HI & Logan, UT USA)
I read this book a number of years ago, and remember really enjoying it. So I was surprised when a number of people were telling me the movie trashed the complexities of the novel.
So here's the answer... wait a few years after reading the book to see this movie. I did, and I thoroughly enjoyed this production, particularly the acting of the young Chiyo (Suzuka Ohgo).
I understood that, following the occupation of Japan by Allied Forces after WWII, "geisha girls" were "invented" to fit the needs of visiting GIs and their fantasies. Economic forces are very powerful motivators. This film, Memoirs of a Geisha, focuses on the traditional geisha, a woman trained in the art of conservation, music, and dance, and considered a desirable luxury in pre-war Japan for centuries.
The plot is the development of a young girl, sold by her poor parents, to a geisha house. She becomes one of the most highly sought-after geisha, but competition with other geisha and events associated with WWII have profound effects on her career.
Recommended.
 Most valuable cultural documentary on Japanese thinking and behavior! December 30, 2009
beulah (Las Vegas)
I went to see this expecting a boring romance or chick flick.
What I found was the most amazing, truthful, honest, accurate documentary on Japanese behavior, culture, and thinking.
I was awestruck how Spielberg could have portrayed so quickly and clearly what is very difficult to explain about Japanese to others.
If you are interested in any kind of involvement with Japanese people and culture at any level of depth more than the casual and superficial, then you really NEED to watch this.
ESPECIALLY if you're in a relationship, or thinking of getting into one with a Japanese man or woman... please do yourself a favor, and watch this first!
It may make you change your mind, or, it may give you insight that will prevent a lot of surprises and frustrations for the both of you.
Strongly recommend this movie, more for educational purposes than for entertainment.
Beautiful movie! A masterpiece! December 23, 2009
Campos Marroquin De Ma (Guatemala City)
I have never read the novel, now I'd like to do it. The story is fascinating, and yet very sad. The execution of the movie is great, the screen, the photography, the music John Williams created for this movie is stunning! It's a joy to see this movie, the performance of the characters was great, even though they were Chinese actresses and not Japanese. The determination of Chiyo to free herself is inspirational, and how she blossoms against all odds without becoming a bitter woman. This is not a romantic movie, and yet, it's obvious that love is the force that fuels her to go after a better life, a life with freedom and the love of a great man. I loved this movie!!!
 Memoirs of a "Runway Geisha" December 7, 2009
Ayilana (Kansas)
While I do enjoy watching this movie and think that it was well directed, I have some serious issues with it. It is a good movie from the book, as movies never truly follow their book counterparts, but I was disappointed to see the changes of certain details that Rob Marshall made. First off, their hair is absolutely horrible. I don't know why he decided to make it "geisha meets runway" when that is absolutely absurd. The whole idea of a geisha is to preserve tradition. A geisha would never have her hair fashioned in such a way, and it is sad to see that he could not portray the proper image as even Arthur Golden himself does in his book. Also, I do not know why they decided to cast three Chinese actresses in the three lead roles. While they are very talented actresses, and I think they did a good job with the roles they were given, I think it very insensitive and typical Western-view to disregard the differences between Asians and other cultures. Also, the Japanese and Chinese do not tend to be on very good terms historically, so this was also insensitive. The Chinese also have an improper view of geisha as being prostitutes, and this does not help matters.
As for a fairly good book made into a decent movie, I would definitely say this movie follows up very well. Again, it is a well-made movie, and it only changes some details from the book, as it seems all movies-from-books do. The costuming overall is pretty well accurate, though there are some other details that are wrong that I have picked up on after learning much about geisha, but they keep the movie fairly accurate to the proper portrayal of every day geisha life.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 347
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