Review of Memoirs of a Geisha (2005) by Sarina L — 12 Feb 2012

This film, based on the novel by Arthur Golden, unfolds from the perspective of Chiyo, a girl who, at the age of nine, is sold to a geisha house in Kyoto in 1930. Here her that becoming a geisha can be the only path to wealth and independence for a woman.

The head geisha of her house, however, Hatsumomo is bitterly jealous of Chiyo and abuses her at every opportunity. Eventually Chiyo is taken under the wing of Hatsumomo's rival, Mameha, by far the most famous geisha and successful in his district.

Under Mameha's tutelage, Chiyo becomes Sayuri, the most legendary geisha in the country, specializing in all areas, from conversation to dance, and sought after by seemingly every man alive ... except for the one whom she has secretly longed for since she began her training, the president - a man who showed her kindness at a time when their world view had become the darkest.

Now, as World War II approaches, Japan is on the verge of a new era and Sayuri must confront the possibility that history will leave all that she has worked for behind.