A Geisha (祇園囃子, Gion Bayashi), or "Gion Festival Music", is a 1953 Japanese film directed by Kenji Mizoguchi centred around life in post-war Gion (Kyoto) through the relationship between an established geisha, Miyoharu, and teenaged Eiko, who pleads with Miyoharu to take her on as an apprentice or maiko. The film is based on the novel by Matsutarō Kawaguchi, who also produced the screenplay.
Sixteen-year-old Eiko, carrying a bundle of her possess...
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A Geisha (祇園囃子, Gion Bayashi), or "Gion Festival Music", is a 1953 Japanese film directed by Kenji Mizoguchi centred around life in post-war Gion (Kyoto) through the relationship between an established geisha, Miyoharu, and teenaged Eiko, who pleads with Miyoharu to take her on as an apprentice or maiko. The film is based on the novel by Matsutarō Kawaguchi, who also produced the screenplay.
Sixteen-year-old Eiko, carrying a bundle of her possessions, walks down the streets of Gion in search of the okiya run by the geisha Miyoharu. As she approaches the screen doors, she witnesses an exchange between Miyoharu and a client. The client, greatly indebted and unable to afford Miyoharu's services, is coldly and mockingly berated by Miyoharu for his presumptuousness. Enraged by the sudden demise of her affected desire for him and her mercenary attitude, he tries to assault her but is thwarted and summarily evicted by Miyoharu's servants. As he sees the client off the premises, one of the...
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