Memoirs of a Geisha

Memoirs of a Geisha (2005)

Timing: 2:26 (146 min)

7.64/10
3353

8.014/10
216803

7.3/10
172000

All about film

Video 3

Photo 38

Actors and characters

Release date

2005-12-06

Country

United States, Japan

Production

Columbia Pictures, Amblin Entertainment, DreamWorks Pictures, Spyglass Entertainment, Red Wagon Entertainment

Genre

Drama, Romance, History

Budget

$85 000 000

Revenue

$162 242 962

Website

https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/memoirsofageisha

Director

Rob Marshall

Actors

Zhang Ziyi, Gong Li, Michelle Yeoh, Ken Watanabe, Suzuka Ohgo, Kaori Momoi, Koji Yakusho, Youki Kudoh, Togo Igawa, Mako
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

Steven Spielberg, Douglas Wick, Lucy Fisher

Operator

Dion Beebe

Composer

John Williams

Artist

Audition

Francine Maisler, Nina Henninger

Editing

Pietro Scalia
All team (30)

• The film is based on Arthur Golden's novel 'Memoirs of a Geisha' (1997).
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Actress Youn-jin Kim turned down the lead role in the project.
• 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.
• 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.