Page Vs Screen.docx

Hiya Goyal Friday, May 18, 2018 Page vs Screen: Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden “Arthur Golden’s 1997 book, Memoirs of a Geisha, went into extreme analytical detail as to the interweaving ideas between the Japanese culture in the 1920s as well as the societal expectations of women during the era. Rob Marshall’s 2005 movie by the same name, succeeded in staying mostly true to the original story, however, one could argue that the book was more successful in portraying the pressure placed upon women by tradition and the difficulty one faces when trying to turn away from same. However true the movie scenes are to the original book, there are clear differences that can change the overall themes that each was trying to portray. In Sayuri’s story, we are introduced to a nine-year-old girl with odd blue eyes who is taken from her home and sold to a renowned geisha house where she encountered enemies who fell victim to the desperation for beauty and obstacles when trying to turn away from corrupt tradition. In the movie, unlike in the book, we are not told much about Nitta Sayuri’s life before she became a member of the okiya. Before she was given her Geisha name in Kyoto, she was a nine-year-old girl known as Sakamoto Chiyo in the small fishing district of Yoroido, where she lived with her father, sick mother and her sister, Sakamoto Satsu. One day on her way to run an errand for her dad, Chiyo falls and gets knocked unconscious. She wakes up in the fishing company store where she first meets Mr. Tanaka who helps mend the cut on her lip and notices her remarkable grey eyes. Chiyo and Satsu then decide to spend a night at Mr. Tanaka's house and it is only after this that Chiyo and her sister are taken from their home by him, allowing both book and movie to finally parallel. Another contrast found in the beginning of the book, was the involvement of Chiyo’s sister in the book as opposed to the movie. The beginning of the book signified the importance of Satsu to the becoming of Sayuri, as well as the significance of beauty on society’s expectations of a woman. It is often hinted that with Chiyo’s blue eyes and slight figure, she is considered much more beautiful than her sister, hence, her acceptance to the okiya and Satsu’s rejection. This is a theme that is overlooked in the movie as it is shown only briefly in the beginning before moving on to Chiyo’s life in the geisha house. Chiyo’s childhood shows how the

sexualization of women was expected even at a young age and it is an important element that is missing in the movie. Hatsumomo was the main antagonist in the book, being that she was jealous of Sayuri’s beauty, ‘water personality’ and youthfulness despite being “more stunning than a china doll” (Golden, 37) herself. Hatsumomo’s departure from the story differed in the book and movie. In the novel, Hatsumomo’s declining popularity as a geisha, paired with her raging alcoholism lead to violent outbursts and embitterment. She is working at a banquet alongside the other geisha and she finally gives in to her pentup insanity, attacking one of the guests, a homosexual actor friend. This was changed in the movie as Hatsumomo was expelled from the city for setting the Okiya on fire, infuriated that Sayuri was being adopted instead of Pumpkin. Another notable distinction was in the way Hatsumomo was banished by Mother, the head of the geisha house. In the book, when she was expelled, she was given time to gather all of her belongings whereas in the movie, she was seen walking off with nothing to her name, all her belongings going to Sayuri. This showed the contrast in the way Granny was portrayed in the movie as opposed to the book. While in the book it was clear that all members of the okiya had lost their respect for Hatsumomo with Mameha saying that “Mother had probably been trying to get rid of Hatsumomo for years.” (Golden, 331) but Granny had cared enough to allow her to gather her belongings whereas in the movie it was a much more brutal expulsion. Again, in the movie, the fate of Hatsumomo was undetermined but the book mentions that Sayuri believed that Hatsumomo ended up working in the pleasure district, much like Satsu, as a prostitute, drinking herself to death. Considering that the book was made prior to World War II, the biggest turn in the events came when the war came looming upon Japan. Sayuri is taken to the countryside where she gave up her life as a geisha for the years of the war. But while the war played a big role in Sayuri’s life, the most significant part of the story came at the end. The novel ended with Sayuri moving to New York City with her danna, the Chairman, to open an authentic Japanese teahouse, leaving her days as a geisha behind her. But the movie differed in that it left many questions unanswered about what is to come. The movie ends with

Sayuri and the Chairman walking in a garden. What is important about these scenes, is that Sayuri was finally liberated from the binds she had endured as a geisha, while it was done so in different ways. Sayuri believed that she was relinquished as a geisha, but she was told to go back to it by Nobu so to ensure that she would be able to entertain American Ministers alongside Pumpkin, who she saw as a friend who needed her help. She is then told by Nobu that he must become her danna, but she refuses, still having feelings for the Chairman. In order to ensure that Nobu will never want to see her again, she plans to be caught having sex with one of the American ministers but due to Pumpkin’s betrayal, it ends up being the Chairman who catches them in the act. It was following this scene that the book and movie diverge. While both show her liberation from the life of a geisha it was done in different ways. Her falling in love and forming a relationship with the Chairman, an act that was forbidden by geisha, was a symbol of her leaving her old life behind moving into a life of her own. The novel took a different approach by having her going to New York with the Chairman, hence pulling her away from the traditional Japanese culture altogether. In the book she is often commented on having a water personality, and she ends the book by saying, “Whatever our struggles and triumphs, however we may suffer them, all too soon they bleed into a wash, just like watery ink on paper.” Her leaving her life as a geisha was an example about how she never allowed society to control her and how she chose her own path, much like water. Overall the film is accurate both visually and in terms of content, but it was clear that the book and movie would diverge slightly from the very beginning when Chiyo life before Sayuri is not shown. The story introduces a world where beauty and mizuage – virginity – are paramount and attributed to monetary value, it was difficult for women to stand up and fight against the molds placed by society but also the gratification that can come when one is able to break away.”