Memoirs Of A Geisha

This is a film that shows the life of a young girl growing up in Japan and the things that she has to endure during her life time. It shows what her parents will do to make their lives better and to make them more secure in this.
The girl Chiyo who is the main character starts off as a little girl, her life was not the best, but she did the best that she could.
Her life takes a turn for the better when she meets a man (The Chairman) in the market and he helps her when she falls. As she looks at the man she falls in love with him and makes her mind up that she is only going to be his in later life.
As time goes on she is taken into a Geisha house (Okiya) and begins her training as a Geisha girl, but did not know at this time what this would mean to her. The madam of the house puts her in with a senior Geisha (Mameha) and so begins a sort of love hate relationship between the two of them.
There are many times where she is told by this Geisha that she won’t be anything, but this makes her more determined to succeed in this enterprise.
Japan as we know is a beautiful place steeped in culture and gardens that are some the most beautiful in the world and the film shows this in all its glory.
When the girl is older, her training as a Geisha becomes more intense and she is expected to show that the house that she lives in is the best Geisha house in Japan. She adopted a new name Sayuri
The madam(Mameha) arranges for her to be with an older man(Doctor Crab) who is not the best picture in the world, but the girl does the best that she can. The man has also paid money to the madam to spend the night with the girl, and she realises that this is part of being a Geisha. She is not happy about this.
As her training progresses, the other parts of being a Geisha really are impressive and also her dancing improves. She adopted a new name Syuri (Ziyi Zhang).The madam arranges for her to dance for the man she fell in love with years ago, but she does not know this. She does her duties as she has been taught to do and the evening goes according to plan with the man enquiring as to her availability. The night they are to spend together doesn’t.
A few more years pass and the WW2 begins to affect them, while she is out she again meets this man who is now a soldier. The Geisha house is nearly in ruin, the man helps them to safety. This is the last time she will see him for a while.
After the war things seen to get back to normal and she goes back to being a Geisha and trying to build the house up again, but the thing she wants most she feels that she will never have. She always remembers the man and hopes that he will come and fetch her. Time passed and to her happiness and delight he returns to her. The romance is there but she has to know that he loves her and so tells him that she loves him. To her surprise he tells her that he does and as in all love stories, the story continues.

This movie was directed by Rob Marshall in 2005, the three lead actresses for this Japanese story are Chinese— Hatsumomo (Gong li), Mameha (Michelle Yeoh), and the principal character Sayuri
(Ziyi Zhang). This film is based on events that really happened.
Personally, I like the film it is a lovely thing to watch, it shows the Japanese culture, their customs and the most important part, the sad life of these beautiful and famous women that are recognized around the world. Colourful gardens and landscapes, the music is amazing it is according to the period, brilliant in direction but the thing that stands out the most is that once you start to watch it then it is hard to stop. Geisha is a must see film for you to watch curled up on the sofa with the lights out eating popcorn.
Watch it!!!!.

By: Tatiana Alvarez