Memoirs of a Geisha

Memoirs of a Geisha (2005) is Rob Marshall's historical romance, available to watch online on iFILM. In a Japan sliding toward war, a poor fisherman's daughter is sold to a geisha house and stripped of her own name.

The girl with unusual blue-grey eyes climbs a long road from scrubbing floors to becoming Sayuri, a geisha whose company Kyoto's most powerful men compete for. A stern mentor teaches her the craft, while the reigning star of the house, Hatsumomo, treats her as a rival and schemes to ruin her. Sayuri masters dance, the tea ceremony and the language of a single glance, yet her heart belongs to a man she can never openly reach. Zhang Ziyi, Gong Li, Michelle Yeoh and Ken Watanabe carry the story across years of training, separation and the war that erases the old world.

Adapted from Arthur Golden's bestselling novel, the film took three Oscars — for Dion Beebe's cinematography, its costumes and its art direction. John Williams wrote the score, with solos by Yo-Yo Ma and Itzhak Perlman. Stream Memoirs of a Geisha (2005) online on iFILM.