Regular Price $19.94

Starring: Ziyi Zhang,  Suzuka Ohgo,  Ken Watanabe,  Kôji Yakusho,  Youki Kudoh, 
Directed By: Rob Marshall, 
Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Release Date: 2005-12-23
Studio: Sony Pictures
Format: Color,  Dolby,  Dubbed,  DVD-Video,  Subtitled,  Widescreen,  NTSC, 

Editorial Reviews and DVD Information about Memoirs of a Geisha (Widescreen Two-Disc Special Edition)

Description
A Cinderella story set in a mysterious and exotic world, this stunning romantic epic shows how a house servant blossoms, against all odds, to become the most captivating geisha of her day.

"... a visually stunning adaptation of Arthur Golden's best-selling novel." (Barry Caine, OAKLAND TRIBUNE) The director of Chicago, Rob Marshall, transports us into a mysterious and exotic world that casts a potent spell. A Cinderella story like no other, MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA stars Ziyi Zhang, Ken Watanabe, Michelle Yeoh and Gong Li. "Gorgeously photographed, meticulously directed and hypnotically acted. MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA is luxurious, ethereal and intoxicating. It will leave you breathless." (Rex Reed, NEW YORK OBSERVER)

Amazon.com
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

Customer Reviews for Memoirs of a Geisha (Widescreen Two-Disc Special Edition)

memoirs of a geisha blu-ray
great movie colors really pop i also recommend the last samurai on blu-ray the colors and picture quality are amazing.Memoirs of a Geisha (Widescreen Two-Disc Special Edition)

Less than Accurate Geisha Memoir -- or Something More?
Director Rob Marshall spins a cool Japanese tale in Memoirs of a Geisha, an adaptation of the Arthur Golden novel of the same name. I loved the photography and segues throughtout the film. The editing and music were perfect.

But the whole pining for love that can never be but might be, the geisha life and it's prid and standards and finally the invasion of American culture left me a bit wanting. I wanted more than I got, but what I did get was a fine, entertaining film.

The jealous friends, the stab you in the back with a smile style, the unrequited love triangle, and the bidding on a woman's virginity were all quite fascinating in their own right.

The characters were well done, and the actors, two of whom also were in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, were right for their respective roles; they were Ziyi Zhang Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, The Legend of the Black Scorpion; and Suzuka Ohgo: Asian Cinema 4-pack (Curse of the Golden Flower / Memoirs of a Geisha / Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon / House of Flying Daggers).

Definitely a chick flick, but I was always a sucker for them.

This DVD was barebones, a couple of commentary tracks and that's about it. Previews for one movie, gosh....

Just as good:
Crouching Tiger, Hidden DragonMemoirs of a Geisha (Widescreen Two-Disc Special Edition)

Great Movie
100th time watching the movie but this was my first time watching it in Hi Def and it's that much better.Memoirs of a Geisha (Widescreen Two-Disc Special Edition)

not true to the book
why can't movie makers leave the story AS TOLD by the AUTHOR of the book? why do they think we are interested in their own little spin? really, now ....just stay true to the story!Memoirs of a Geisha (Widescreen Two-Disc Special Edition)

The colours are superb
Finally in High Definition. The colours are great.

The only sad thing is that the Japanese track is not available in this version.Memoirs of a Geisha (Widescreen Two-Disc Special Edition)

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