Trivia / Memoirs of a Geisha

• Awesome, Dear Boy:
  • Composer example. The only film of John Williams's career where he has specifically asked to compose the music. Even passing on Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire to do so.
  • Michelle Yeoh says she wanted to be in the film because she had enjoyed the book and was a huge fan of Chicago:
    'When I found out that Rob was going to do it, it was literally about getting down on my knees and praying, "Please, God, let the phone call come!"'
• Banned in China: The film was indeed banned in China for having Chinese actresses playing Japanese geishas. According to Zhang Ziyi, it was a "big hit in the underground DVD market".
• California Doubling: The movie was filmed mostly in California as present-day Kyoto was judged to be too modern-looking for the period. The Gion district seen in the film was an elaborate set built specifically for the movie.
• Cast the Expert: As Sayuri's training includes learning to dance - and she performs many dances in the film - Zhang Ziyi's background in dance proved useful.
• Cast the Runner-Up: Youki Kudoh auditioned for the role of Sayuri, which of course went to Zhang Ziyi. But they liked her audition, and had her read for Pumpkin, so she ended up in that part.
• Creator Backlash: The geisha expert who had advised on the film later admitted that it wasn't made for a Japanese audience, and anyone who knew anything about Japanese culture would be "appalled" by it.
• The Danza: Ken Watanabe plays the Chairman Ken Iwamura.
• Dawson Casting:
  • Ziyi Zhang was in her mid-twenties and plays Sayuri from the age of fifteen to thirty-five.
  • Hatsumomo is in her twenties for most of the story, but Gong Li was nearly forty. She didn't look it.
  • Youki Kudoh was likewise in her mid-thirties playing Pumpkin, who's the same age as Sayuri. She's in fact only five years younger than Gong Li. Possibly justified, since Hatsumomo exits the story as World War II breaks out, and Pumpkin returns after it has ended (where her age now matches her actress's).
• Dear Negative Reader: Ziyi Zhang gave an outspoken defence of the film, especially that directed towards her casting:
  A director is only interested in casting someone he believes is appropriate for a role. For instance, my character had to go from age 15 to 35; she had to be able to dance, and she had to be able to act, so he needed someone who could do all that. I also think that regardless of whether someone is Japanese or Chinese or Korean, we all would have had to learn what it is to be a geisha, because almost nobody today knows what that means—not even the Japanese actors on the film. Geisha was not meant to be a documentary. I remember seeing in the Chinese newspaper a piece that said we had only spent six weeks to learn everything and that that was not respectful toward the culture. It's like saying that if you're playing a mugger, you have to rob a certain number of people. To my mind, what this issue is all about, though, is the intense historical problems between China and Japan. The whole subject is a land mine. Maybe one of the reasons people made such a fuss about Geisha was that they were looking for a way to vent their anger
• Disowned Adaptation: Mineko Iwasaki, whose interviews were the basis for the story, was furious at her name being included in the acknowledgments (she had agreed to be interviewed under confidential basis). She was especially annoyed at the story making her seem like a prostitute, and the resulting friendships she lost and death threats received.
• Dyeing for Your Art: Zhang Ziyi has to wear blue-grey contact lenses to match Sayuri's signature trait, which she later admits to be allergic to.
• Enforced Method Acting: Michelle Yeoh's unexpected exit, following "If you are found to be worthless...!" according to the director's commentary. They told her to leave the room after delivering the line, but Ziyi Zhang wasn't told that she would do so. It worked — after shouting in reply "I am not worthless!", she started crying before tearfully repeating the line to the now empty room.
• Fake Nationality:
  • The three lead actresses are Chinese, although Michelle Yeoh is Malaysian Chinese. Zhang Ziyi and Gong Li in fact had to both learn English, and learn to speak it with a Japanese accent.
  • Averted though with important characters like the Chairman, Nobu and little Chiyo played by Japanese actors Ken Watanabe, Kōji Yakusho and Suzuka Ohgo. Kaoiri Momoi was also Japanese as Mrs Nitta.
  • Pumpkin is the opposite case to Sayuri; her child actress was the half-Chinese Zoe Weizenbaum (who was American born and thus had to put on an accent), while her adult self was played by Youki Kudoh, who is Japanese.
  • Tsai Chin (Auntie) was Chinese.
  • Dr Crab is played by Randall Duk Kim, who is Hawaiian born.
• Irony as She Is Cast:
  • Pumpkin is less talented than Sayuri, which is why she never progresses too far. Her actress Youki Kudoh is also an accomplished singer. Singing is one of many skills geisha demonstrate, but Pumpkin never sings.
  • Dr Crab is so unfamiliar with the world of performing he outbids everyone for Sayuri. He's played by Randall Duk Kim, a gifted Broadway performer, who starred in the likes of The King and I and Flower Drum Song.
• Looping Lines: In order to fix some of the pronunciation problems in the dialogue recorded on set, syllables and clips from other lines in the film had to be edited to make them more audible (a lot of the cast only spoke partially-phonetic English on set). The sound editors earned an Oscar nomination for this achievement.
• Method Acting:
  • Zhang Ziyi learned English for the film, and had to learn to speak it with a Japanese accent - which she compared to an English speaker learning to speak Russian with a Chinese accent.
  • Gong Li didn't speak English either, and learned her lines phonetically.
• Playing Against Type: Both Zhang Ziyi and Michelle Yeoh were known mainly for Action Girl roles in Wuxia (both had starred in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon together).
• Reality Subtext: Zhang Ziyi drew parallels between the dance school she attended at age eleven, and Chiyo's training at the okiya. She even tried to run away because of being bullied by other girls.
• Underage Casting: Ken Watanabe plays the Chairman at the same age as himself in his first scene, where Chiyo is only thirteen. He then continues to play him over the next twenty years.
• What Could Have Been:
  • When the film rights were first purchased, the plan was to shoot in Japan and have the film entirely in Japanese.
  • Despite criticism that the lead actresses were Chinese, producers had held an open casting for Japanese actresses to attend, but none showed up, so they were forced to cast other Asian nationalities. Apparently, Japanese actresses did not show up because most of them did not believe they had what it took to play a profession attainable only by a selected few, as being a geisha is absolutely considered Serious Business in Japan.
  • Brett Ratner, Kimberly Peirce and Spike Jonze all considered directing the film. Steven Spielberg was the one attached the longest, but only produced the movie because he got too busy. Rob Marshall almost didn't get to do it because he was contractually obligated to make another Miramax film after Chicago.
  • Youki Koudoh auditioned for Sayuri, which went to Ziyi Zhang. However, they liked her audition so much, they had her try for the role of Pumpkin. She ended up with that part.

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