Memoirs of a Geisha (film)

Memoirs of a Geisha
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Rob Marshall
Screenplay by	Robin Swicord
Based on	Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
Produced by	Lucy Fisher Steven Spielberg Douglas Wick
Starring	Zhang Ziyi Ken Watanabe Michelle Yeoh Kōji Yakusho Youki Kudoh Kaori Momoi Gong Li
Cinematography	Dion Beebe
Edited by	Pietro Scalia
Music by	John Williams
Production companies	Columbia Pictures DreamWorks Pictures Spyglass Entertainment Amblin Entertainment Red Wagon Entertainment
Distributed by	Sony Pictures Releasing
Release dates	November 29, 2005 (2005-11-29) (Tokyo premiere) December 9, 2005 (2005-12-09) (United States)
Running time	145 minutes[1]
Country	United States
Languages	English Japanese
Budget	$85 million
Box office	$162.2 million

Memoirs of a Geisha is a 2005 American epic period drama film directed by Rob Marshall and adapted by Robin Swicord from the 1997 novel of the same name by Arthur Golden.^[2][3] It tells the story of a young Japanese girl, Chiyo Sakamoto, who is sold by her impoverished family to a geisha house (okiya) to support them by training as and eventually becoming a geisha under the pseudonym "Sayuri Nitta." The film centers around the sacrifices and hardship faced by pre-World War II geisha, and the challenges posed by the war and a modernizing world to geisha society. It stars Zhang Ziyi in the lead role, with Ken Watanabe, Gong Li, Michelle Yeoh, Youki Kudoh, Suzuka Ohgo, and Samantha Futerman.

The film was produced by Steven Spielberg (through production companies Amblin Entertainment and DreamWorks Pictures) and Douglas Wick (through Red Wagon Entertainment). Production was split between southern and northern California and a number of locations in Kyoto, including the Kiyomizu temple and the Fushimi Inari shrine. It was released as a limited release in the United States on December 9, 2005 and a wide release on December 23, 2005, by Columbia Pictures and DreamWorks Pictures, with the latter receiving studio credit only.

The film garnered polarized reviews from critics worldwide and was moderately successful at the box office. It was also nominated for and won numerous awards, including nominations for six Academy Awards, and eventually won three: Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design. The acting, visuals, sets, costumes, and the musical score (composed by Spielberg's long-time collaborator John Williams) were praised, but the film was criticized for casting some non-Japanese actresses as Japanese women and for its style over substance approach. The Japanese release of the film was titled Sayuri, the titular character's geisha name.