The Geisha House / Omocha

[Stephen Cremin]

Following is from the 2000 Rotterdam fest catalogue.  It also played 
Tokyo IFF in 1998 and Puchon IFFF in 2003.

"Fukasaku already had an eye on this original script by Shindo Kaneto 
thirty years ago. He turned it into his first serious women
s film. The 
title heroine Omocha shares her geisha name with the protagonist from 
Mizoguchi Kenji's Gion no shimai/Sisters of Gion (1936). The film 
describes the life of Omocha, daughter of the poor weaver Nishijin in 
Kyoto forty years ago, from the time when she comes to work as maid in 
a geisha house and is inaugurated into the arts and crafts of the 
trade, until the time when she blossoms as a beautiful butterfly and 
makes her entrance as a fully-ledged geisha. In a lyrical tone, the 
film portrays the heroine as a brave and exemplary woman who won
t be 
put of track by anyone. Fukasaku shows her in the midst of the female 
drama that happens in and around her: the everyday life of the geisha, 
the relationships with the customers, with the madame and the pattern 
that takes care of them and the friendship and machinations between the 
geisha. He interweaves this with the vicissitudes around Omocha's poor 
family and her first love. Many scenes are set indoors, with the 
exuberant group portrait of the twittering, singing and quarrelling 
geishas walking in and out radiating a vitality reminiscent of Battles 
Without Honour and Humanity. Miyamoto Maki made her d?but as the title 
role of Omocha. Fuji Sumiko in the role of the madame was previously a 
star under the name Fuji Junko in many Toei Yakuza films."



On Jan 31, 2005, at 10:16 PM, Matthew H. Bernstein wrote:

> Can anyone direct me to info (in English) about the making of this 
> film, directed by Directed by Kinji Fukasaku in1998?
>
> Thank you,
> Matthew
>