Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #210 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-06-05
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
• Formats: PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 139 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
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

DVD Description
In 1929 an impoverished nine-year-old named Chiyo from a fishing village is sold to a geisha house in Kyoto's Gion district and subjected to cruel treatment from the owners and the head geisha Hatsumomo. Her stunning beauty attracts the vindictive jealousy of Hatsumomo, until she is rescued by and taken under the wing of Hatsumomo's bitter rival, Mameha. Under Mameha's mentorship, Chiyo becomes the geisha named Sayuri, trained in all the artistic and social skills a geisha must master in order to survive in her society. As a renowned geisha she enters a society of wealth, privilege, and political intrigue. As World War II looms Japan and the geisha's world are forever changed by the onslaught of history.

Special Features
• Rob Marshall and John DeLuca Audio Commentary • Sayuri's Journey: From the Novel to the Screen • Geisha Bootcamp • The Look of a Geisha • A Geisha's Dance • The World of the Geisha • Photo Gallery - Behind the Scenes • Photo Gallery - Costume Illustrations • Photo Gallery - The Recipes of Chef Nobu

Customer Reviews

Visually stunning
I loved Arthur Golden's novel `Memoirs of a Geisha' and tried to keep an open-mind about the film version. Although the film wasn't as `magical' as the novel, I thought it stood rather well.

"Memoirs of a Geisha" on screen, in my opinion, did capture some aspects of the novel. I thought the scenery (especially of the Japanese market) was well portrayed.

Although the film is visually stunning, I felt that it could have been made more authentic by if it had more Japanese actors and people speaking in Japanes; most of the actors in the film appeared to be Chinese (I guess a lot of people wouldn't pick up on that) and the film was in English.

It's difficult to relate the life of Sayuri/ Chiyo (Ziyi Zhang) in detail, but the film made a good attempt of showing how she lived and making the audience feel compassion towards her.

The story captures the life of Chiyo, a grey-eyed Japanese girl, who along with her sister, is sold by her parents as a result of poverty. Upon arrival at a Geisha house, the sisters are separated and Chiyo succumbs to her new role as a servant for the dominating Mother.

Hatsumomo (Gong Li) the Geisha of the house, develops a dislike for Chiyo and begins to make life difficult for her. Soon Chiyo starts attending Geisha school. Unfortunate circumstances at the house end in her punishment, as a result she will be banned from attending the school.

One day, she meets the Chairman (Ken Watanabe) who extends her a kindness that she will never forget. When Chiyo grows up, Mameha (Michelle Yeoh), a leading Geisha, trains her so that Chiyo, with her unusual eyes, can become the most desired Geisha.

a beautiful film
The story is compelling, the cinematography is gorgeous and I must mention the music score by John Williams. Perleman is solo violin playing "Sayuri" the heroine and Yo Yo Ma is solo cello representing the "Chairman". It helps that the mainly all female cast are wonderful actors. The main characters of Sayuri, Mamaha and Hatsumonno are extraordinarily beautiful. They are chinese rather than japanese which apparently did cause some controversy. They speak a strongly accented english which may sound contrived but for me it works really well. The extras on the dvd are very interesting, especially the commentary.

Disappointing
Memoirs of a Geisha is a great book; a really great, pacey, enchanting, engaging book. I can't recommend the book enough. The film however tries so hard and ends up disappointing.

As you would expect from the novel, it is beautifully shot, with fantastic costumes and vibrant use of colour. The dance sequences are visually stunning, the landscapes sumptious, but this somehow never quite makes up for the lack of credibility in the film's core. What is pacey and hard to put down in the novel is rendered weighty and leaden in this 2 hours plus film. What is emotionally engaging in the novel's interior monologue is largely lost. One of the extras on the DVD shows the screenwriter talking about the central story of "being the best person you can be", living your dream, but this is a story of a girl sold into slavery, sold into the geisha profession and I felt that this misconception of the screenwriter was very apparent in the film.

Additionally, there is the irritation that the three lead characters, the three key geishas representing the epitome of japanese grace and beauty are all Chinese. And they all look Chinese and this detracts from the film's core credibility. Was there really not a single Japanese actress who could have played Sayuri? Look at pictures of geisha and then come back and look at the cast - it's an opportunity missed and surely cultural arrogance on the part of the West to just pick famous Chinese actresses and think it's all the same because they are Asian.

That aside, the acting is good and aside from a few glitches suitably understated. However, the dialogue is in heavily accented English with regular smatterings of Japanese and at times it is hard to hear what some of the actresses in particular, are saying.

My advice would be to read the book, it deserved better than this.