Memoirs of a Geisha
Short description
Set in Japan before the Second World War, Memoirs of a Geisha follows Chiyo, a girl from a poor family who is taken from her home and sent to work in a geisha house in Kyoto. She endures a harsh training and the hostility of Hatsumomo, the household's leading geisha, who sees the newcomer as a rival. With help from the experienced geisha Mameha, Chiyo gradually masters the arts of music, dance and ceremony and becomes the celebrated Sayuri, sought after by powerful men. Her rise brings her closer to the Chairman, the one man she cannot openly love. The story is drawn from Arthur Golden's novel.
Rob Marshall directed, with a screenplay by Robin Swicord and production by Steven Spielberg, Douglas Wick and Lucy Fisher. Marshall's third feature, it followed Annie and Chicago and preceded Nine in a run of films that later included Into the Woods and Mary Poppins Returns. Zhang Ziyi plays Sayuri, with Gong Li as Hatsumomo, Michelle Yeoh as Mameha, Ken Watanabe as the Chairman, Suzuka Ohgo as the young Chiyo and Kaori Momoi as Mother, among 133 credited cast members.
Released in December 2005, the film runs 146 minutes and blends drama, history and romance. Against a budget of 85 million dollars it took about 162 million worldwide, a modest return. Audience response has been warmer than critical: it holds 7.3 on IMDb from roughly 172,000 votes and 7.6 on TMDB from a much smaller base, while the critics' rating stands at 5.7 from 165 reviews.
What's left behind the scenes
- The film is based on Arthur Golden's novel 'Memoirs of a Geisha' (1997).
- The author of the novel, playwright Arthur Golden, was constantly present on the set to find out what difficulties the actors faced when delivering certain lines. After that, Arthur made corresponding adjustments to the script.
- The rights to adapt the novel were acquired a month after the book was published by producers Douglas Wick and Lucy Fisher, who are married.
- Actress Youn-jin Kim turned down the lead role in the project.
- Juliana Soelistyo was considered for the role of Pumpkin, and Maggie Cheung for the role of Mameha.
- The story of Rob Marshall's involvement as director was quite complex. After he filmed "Chicago" in 2002 for "Miramax," he was obligated to film his next picture for the same studio. "Memoirs of a Geisha" was a "DreamWorks" project. Rob was able to head the production only due to long-standing partnerships between the companies, which occasionally allowed them to poach talented filmmakers.
- The film crew decided that the modern appearance of the Gion district (the location of the main events in Arthur Golden's novel) could not convey the atmosphere of the 1920s and 30s. A decision was made to recreate the atmosphere of Gion in Los Angeles. Careful and painstaking work was done on the sets – real cobbled streets, bridges, and a river were created. A large portion of the $85 million budget was spent on these sets.
- Composer John Williams declined to work on the soundtrack for the fourth 'Harry Potter' film in favor of this picture.
- The following candidates were considered as directors for this project: Steven Spielberg, Brett Ratner, Spike Jonze, and Kimberly Peirce.
- Filming of some scenes took place in Hakone Gardens, located in California. These gardens were created back in 1918. During filming, the filmmakers damaged several very valuable exhibits woven by hand.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
