Memoirs of a Geisha (2005)

Regisseur:

Rob Marshall

Drehbuchautoren (WGA):

Robin Swicord (screenplay)
Arthur Golden (book)

Premierendatum:

23. Dezember 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Biographie | Drama | Romanze | Kriegsfilm

Plot:

Nitta Sayuri reveals how she transcended her fishing-village roots and became one of Japan's most celebrated geisha.

Plot Keywords:

Betrayal | Loss Of Parents | Child Nudity | Rivalry | Literature

Filmpreise:

Won 3 Oscars. Another 16 wins & 28 nominations

Nutzerkommentare:

Duel in the Rising Sun

Besetzung

Ziyi Zhang	...	Chiyo / Sayuri
Suzuka Ohgo	...	Young Chiyo
Ken Watanabe	...	The Chairman
Kôji Yakusho	...	Nobu
Youki Kudoh	...	Pumpkin
Li Gong	...	Hatsumomo
Kaori Momoi	...	Mother
Tsai Chin	...	Auntie
Zoe Weizenbaum	...	Young Pumpkin
Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa	...	The Baron
Kenneth Tsang	...	The General
Randall Duk Kim	...	Dr. Crab
Ted Levine	...	Colonel Derricks
Paul Adelstein	...	Lieutenant Hutchins
Samantha Futerman	...	Satsu

Alternativ:

Geisha, Die (Österreich) (promotional title) (Deutschland) [de]

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for mature subject matter and some sexual content.

Länge:

145 Min | Philippines:140 Min

Produktionsland:

USA

Sprache:

Japanisch | Englisch

Farbe:

Farbe

Seitenverhältnis:

2.35 : 1

Tonverfahren:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Altersfreigabe:

Sweden:7 | Czech Republic:12 | USA:PG-13 | South Korea:15 | France:U | Netherlands:MG6 | Argentina:13 | UK:12A | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | Australia:M | Iceland:L | Indonesia:Dewasa | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Philippines:PG-13 (MTRCB) | Germany:12 | France:Unrated | Brazil:14 | Finland:K-11 | Ireland:12A | Malaysia:U (cut version) | Malaysia:18PL | Hungary:14 | Canada:G (Quebec) | Singapore:NC-16 (special edition DVD) | Hong Kong:IIA | Singapore:PG | Canada:PG (Alberta/British Columbia/Canada Video Rating/Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | China:(Banned)

Drehorte:

American River, Sacramento, California, USA

Firma:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Dies und das:

The playwright Doug Wright stayed on set during the shoot to rewrite lines that actors found too difficult to pronounce. He also polished up the shooting script.

Pannen:

Crew oder Equipment sichtbar: During the fight between Sayuri and Hatsumomo in Sayuri's room a crew member walks through the left side of the shot.

Dialogzitate:

Mameha: Now rise.
[Sayuri rises]
Mameha: Not like a horse.

Bezüge zu anderen Titeln:

Verweis/Anspielung/Erwähnung in "Will & Grace: Von Trapped (#8.10)" (2006)

Soundtrack:

Musume Dojoji (The Maiden at the Dojo Temple)

Duel in the Rising Sun

Looking over previous comments here, it is clear that this is a very polarizing movie experience, one that seems to put "Syriana" to shame in that realm. Director Rob Marshall has taken a best selling novel and turned out a feature film that it appears some people love and some absolutely hate. Count me in the first category, but allow me to indulge the critics, too.

First, this isn't a typical Hollywood film. Despite popular western misconceptions about Geishas, there's no sex, almost no violence and beyond that, there's nearly two and a half hours of women's problems that many men may find hard to relate to. This is not "Desperate Housewives" or even "All my Children." This is about deceit, treachery and rivalries as much as it is about a little girl who gets sold into bondage by her impoverished Japanese family. Its also about a lifelong search for love in a society in which people apparently can't just step up and make frank declarations of devotion to one another. This movie is in a word "complicated" and that is going to turn some American movie goers off.

But not all Asian film fans are raving about this movie either, some thinking it is a very superficial look at Japnese customs and others incensed that a movie that's about an important Japanese tradition should star three Chinese actresses. I cannot comment on either topic, since I know little or nothing about Japanese tradition and I don't know why Ziyi Zhang, Michelle Yoeh and Gong Li were cast. They have been seen before by American audiences, but are hardly film stars in this country, so it wasn't as if they were going to draw in tons of fans on their names alone.

The only thing I can think of is, all three are fine actresses and they more than proved that in this film. If Gong Li does not get a best supporting actress nomination, there's no justice. And Zhang should probably get a crack at best actress for her work, as well.

All three just light up the screen.

But, I can understand in this age of political correctness, how some would be offended by the casting and how others might complain about the handling of the Japanese subject matter.

All I can say is, movie makers face trade offs and one is either targeting your film to a mass audience (and in America, that means a generally poorly educated audience) or "narrow casting" your film to people very well acquainted with the topic who will swoop down on any flaw. But that, when dealing with a topic like Japanese geisha culture, is a pretty small audience in America, too small to generate the kind of box office a film like this needs to pull in to pay for itself. From a purely Anglo, American, unschooled in Japanese culture standpoint, I think Marshall made good decisions. I hope he has not slighted Japanese culture too much, but I think he has made a suspenseful, captivating, enchanting film that does something a lot of films haven't in recent years.

He gave us a complex central character we can pull for throughout the film and for that, I thank him.

"Memoirs of a Geisha" ranks among my five best films of the year thus far, and deserves a best picture nomination.