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


Customer Reviews (Average 4.0 from 70) :
A good film but lacking in some detail
Rating:4
As I had read the book before watching this film I was a touch disappointed with the lack of attention to geisha customs. These were in my opinion fundamental details that would have given the viewer a better understanding of the rituals and complexities of their traditions.

Not to bad.
Rating:4
I watched this movie before I read the book (I sometimes do it to help me imagine the scenery a bit better) And I loved the movie. Right from the very beginning whe Chiyo and her older sister were taken away I fell in love with it.
The costumes are incredible as is the music.
The characters are just wonderful and I immedietly fell in love with Hatsumomo, Mother and Auntie.

However, after reading the book, I see there are a lot of things they changed.
For instance, Granny appeared only once in the movie. In the book however, she was there right from the moment Chiyo entered the Okia. Arthur Golden even had at least half a chapter describing when she died and HOW she died.
When I first watched the movie, I always wondered what had happened to Granny. Obviously I was aware that she had died but I feel they should've put it in somewhere in the movie what had happened to her.
I also feel the movie should've gone into a bit more depth about Hatsumomo's boyfriend, Koichi and Sayuri's quest to find the Chairmen and eventually becoming a geisha.
I noticed that Mameha is also a lot nicer in the movie than she is in the book. In the book, Mameha seems to get impatient with Sayuri's sometimes constant rambling. In the movie, she treats Sayuri as if she's been with her from the very beginning.

In my opinion, the movie is extremely good but watch it for the costumes, music and make-up only.
If you want the full story of Chiyo/Sayuri then I suggest you read the book.

Much to like......
Rating:3
I found my way over to this movie ( having missed it's theatrical release)by way of the current crop of Chinese-made movies finding their way to DVD. In those , I much admired the performances of Ziyi Zhang , Michelle Yeo and Gong Li and to find all three in one movie made it a must for me to see. To have three such fine actresses in any movie would be wonderful and they do not disappoint , all three being in cracking form. Gong Li gets a special mention because she speaks no English . Apparently she learned the lines and just acted as if she did. Impressive.
A beautifully made movie , which is most entertaining .
It's pretensions towards authenticity are somewhat less impressive. All three of the main actresses are Chinese ( Michelle Yeoh is actually Malaysian ) and don't look a bit Japanese , the book has been totally slaughtered to cram it into a decent length .Also, all the Geisha costumes , make-up , hairstyles and even dancing have been utterly decimated by being given the 'Hollywood' treatment.Why ? No idea ,but despite all that well worth watching and a worthy addition to any collection.
Gong Li , first rock and roll Geisha !

A geisha's life
Rating:5
This is the story of a little girl who gets sold to become a geisha.
Its a sad story with a good ending.

If I could give it 0 stars, I would!
Rating:1
Memoirs of a Geisha is a fantastic book, despite its inaccuracies, and indeed it is one of the best books ever written. The film however is the biggest let-down adaptation I have ever seen.

Firstly the casting is awful. There was a big fuss over Chinese and Singaporean actresses playing Japanese geisha - the arguments still rage on. Personally, I'm a stickler for accuracy and didn't like the idea of Zhang Ziyi, Michelle Yeoh and Li Gong playing the lead geisha. However I would've been willing to put that factor aside had they not been speaking in English for the entirety of the film. The acting is overshadowed by the clunky dialogue with the actresses attempting to put on convincing Japanese accents and failing abysmally. The gem amongst the cast is Japanese actor Ken Wantanabe as the Chairman (a character who does not age throughout the 25-ish years the film is set over!), though I can't help feeling, despite his amazing presence, he's not quite right for the role. Perhaps the American casting agent has only got him on board because US audiences will know him from The Last Samurai, which was no Kurosawa, but it was a watchable film.

Secondly, many grimy features of the story have been glossed over to get a lower certificate. For example, at the beginning of the film, Sayuri and her sister are taken away from their father, but, in the book, he actually sells them. Another example is Sayuri tries to find her sister (as is shown briefly in the film) and finds her with her next `customer'.
Furthermore, the American screenwriter seems to think that if he makes the US soldiers the bad guys, rather than a combination of them and the corrupt Japanese officials, then it excuses the Hollywoodisation of the adaptation. This screenwriter also seems to go for the pointlessly dramatic rather than build up tension, i.e. rather than shame herself in front of her clients by arguing with Sayuri as in the book, Hatsumomo tries to burn down the house in the film before she runs away, which is far less a satisfying result.

Thirdly, whilst the look of the film was praised so much, a lot was wrong with it. The kimono were worn incorrectly, the set pieces/designs weren't right at all (the much talked about dance is nothing like you will see in a Japanese performance), the make up team seemed to be fussing over geisha make up rather than doing anyone else's (hence the aforementioned Ken Wantanabe's ageless face) and then there's Sayuri's eyes. No 100% Japanese people are born with incredibly bright blue eyes. Slate-grey/blue as stated in the book, yes it happens sometimes, but nothing like the distracting contacts Zhang is flashing!

Japan and Japanese cinema is very different to this westernised perception. If you want a period Japanese-west crossover then Shogun is more what you should be watching. If you want a modern Japanese-west crossover, check out Returner. If you want a slightly bittersweet romance, give Lavender a go. If you want something with beautiful design, check out any Miyazaki film (the backgrounds will make your eyes bleed!) or Casshern. If you want to see how the average Japanese civilian was affected by WW2 then I'd recommend Grave of the Fireflies. Want to see how geisha were really treated? Most Kurosawa films show geisha in some respect (see Yojimbo especially when the women are being beaten and herded around like cattle). And everyone should watch some Kurosawa at least once in their life.

In short, keep away from Memoirs of a Geisha the film - it is an ignorant and empty adaptation that doesn't seem to have been made with any love for its source material.