Memoirs of a Geisha 🎥 2005 Movie Info

Plot Summary

Chiyo Sakamoto and her older sister Satsu are sold by their poor father and taken to Gion, Kyoto. Chiyo is taken in by Kayoko Nitta, or “Mother”, a local okiya owner; Satsu, deemed unattractive, is sent to a brothel instead. Chiyo also meets “Granny” and “Auntie”, the other women who run the house; Pumpkin, another young girl; and the okiya’s resident geisha Hatsumomo. Pumpkin and Chiyo soon begin geisha training. Hatsumomo, threatened by Chiyo, is immediately abusive. One night, Hatsumomo and another geisha force her to ruin a valuable kimono belonging to their rival Mameha, a prominent geisha in Gion. Auntie takes up the responsibility of punishing Chiyo, as ruining Mameha’s kimono has cost Mother money.

Hoping she will run away, Hatsumomo tells her where to find Satsu in the red light district. They plan to escape the following night. When Chiyo returns to the Okiya late that night, she stumbles upon Hatsumomo and her illicit boyfriend Koichi. As the noise wakes the rest of the okiya, Koichi runs away and Hatsumomo tries to frame Chiyo for stealing to distract from her tryst. Mother begins to severely beat Chiyo, who quickly informs her of Hatsumomo’s relations with Koichi. Finding evidence of the affair, Mother bars her from seeing him, and locks the gate; only letting them out for appointments.

The next night, trying to escape via the rooftops, Chiyo falls and is injured. Due to her accumulating costs, Mother stops investing in her geisha training, making Chiyo a servant to pay off her debts. Satsu flees Kyoto and Chiyo never sees her again. Mother later tells Chiyo her parents died. One day, while crying on a bridge, Chiyo encounters Chairman Ken Iwamura. He buys her a treat, gives her his handkerchief and some money to cheer her up. Touched by his kindness, Chiyo resolves to become a geisha to one day be part of his life.

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