A Geisha
1953 · Movie · Not Rated · 85 min · ★ 7.5 · 95% critics
After escaping a painful home life, a teenage girl enters training under an experienced geisha in postwar Kyoto. As the two form a close bond, they try to hold onto dignity and independence while facing social pressure, debt, and the selfish demands of people around them.
Also known as Gion Festival Music
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Details
- Original title
- 祇園囃子
- Years
- 1953
- Release date
- 1953-08-12
- Language
- Japanese
- Rated
- Not Rated
- Runtime
- 85 min
- Critic score
- 95/100
- TMDB rating
- 7.5/10 (61 votes)
About
You may like this if you enjoy humane, quietly powerful dramas about women facing unfair systems, especially if The Life of Oharu or Sisters of the Gion worked for you; Not for you if you want fast pacing or easy comfort.
Pros: moving mentor bond; empathetic female focus; revealing look at geisha life | Cons: slow pacing; abrupt ending; some melodrama
Themes
- geisha
- coming of age
- debt
- teacher student relationship
- kyoto, japan
- post war japan
- dignity
- apprenticeship
- shōwa era (1926-89)
- japanese culture
- father daughter estrangement
- maiko
- +2 more
Cast & crew
Michiyo Kogure
as Miyoharu
Ayako Wakao
as Eiko
Seizaburō Kawazu
as Kusuda
Eitarō Shindō
as Sawamoto
Ichirō Sugai
as Saeki
Kanji Koshiba
as Kanzaki
- SI
Sumao Ishihara
as Kokichi
Chieko Naniwa
as Okimi
- KM
Kikue Mōri
as Arts Teacher
Saburo Date
as Imanishi
Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi