Sisters of the Gion
Sisters of the Gion

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- 74/100 based on 2,877 votes

Umekichi, a geisha in the Gion district of Kyoto, feels obliged to help her lover Furusawa when he asks to stay with her after becoming bankrupt and leaving his wife. However her younger sister Omocha tells her she is wasting her time and money on a loser. She thinks that they should both find wealthy patrons to support them. Omocha therefore tries various schemes to get rid of Furusawa, and set themselves up with better patrons.... (Full plot summary below)

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Actors in Sisters of the Gion:

Isuzu Yamada
Yōko Umemura
Benkei Shiganoya
Eitarō Shindō
Taizō Fukami
Shizuko Takizawa

Full Plot Details

Umekichi, a geisha in the Gion district of Kyoto, feels obliged to help her lover Furusawa when he asks to stay with her after becoming bankrupt and leaving his wife. However her younger sister Omocha tells her she is wasting her time and money on a loser. She thinks that they should both find wealthy patrons to support them. Omocha therefore tries various schemes to get rid of Furusawa, and set themselves up with better patrons.

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Movie Reviews

Village Voice - 7/10 by J. HobermanThe great Japanese director followed his tough-minded Osaka Elegy with an equally forceful but more subtle analysis of female subjugation.
eCinemaCenter.com - 6/10 by Gabe LeibowitzMizoguchi presents similar themes MUCH more powerfully in Ugetsu or Sansho the Bailiff; here, it falls flat
User Review - 10/10 by James-Masaki RHighly recommended. Its compacted narrative and stunning cinematography makes this seem fresher than most movies made today.
User Review - 10/10 by Keenan SWhile Osaka Elegy is a flawed, but terrific peek into the early works of Kenji Mizoguchi, it's here, with Sisters Of The Gion, where we get to see where despite so early on his career, we see a work of utter greatness along with one of his more scathing critiques of society and how it treats women. Sisters Of The Gion may be a short film (69 minutes), but as a drama and as a hallmark in the history of Japanese cinema, it is indeed among the greatest in both said categories. The story focuses on two geisha sisters: Umekichi, a traditional geisha who believes in respecting her questionable clientele, and Omocha, a strong-minded, modern geisha who abhors how men treat women in their profession and uses their weakness for the beauty of women to her advantage by taking her out to dinner, getting her nice clothes, etc. Things change for the sisters when Umekichi's old patron who got her started as a geisha goes out of business and moves in with them, much to the annoyance of Omocha, who wants nothing to do with him. After she gets him to leave, she nabs a wealthy patron who funds her wants and needs, while also stringing along other patrons, including a clerk at a kimono shop who almost loses his job because of her, and even his own boss becomes a patron of hers after seeing her briefly. However, Omocha's ways begin to catch up with her when her sister moves out after finding out she was responsible for her former patron leaving and moving in with him, the clerk at the kimono shop not only plans revenge against his boss, but her as well when he kidnaps her and throws her out of the car, severely injuring her. The world of the two sisters, regardless of different methods of thinking, is crushed by the deception of men and their darker natures. The story is really quite interesting, and manages to pack a great deal into a very short running time. Somehow, despite being on 69 minutes in length, the story manages to develop its characters very well and makes them feel alive and real, especially as they go through their harsh struggles and realities. It's a story that indeed will have the viewer emotionally-invested in everything that happens, especially with its thoughts on human nature. It's not just a women-centric film, but it has a lot to say about our desires, are darker natures, what we do to survive, and much more. It's really quite compelling and gives your brain a lot to feed on and process. The acting, as expected in a Kenji Mizoguchi film, is top notch. Isuzu Yamada as Omocha is the one who really steals the show in this film as her character dares to break out of the mold of women in her profession and what she does to survive and give her lowly life pleasure from those who abuse and use her. The rest of the acting is also pretty stellar, but it's the superb performance by the lead actress that will have you glued to your seat. Sisters Of The Gion is a masterpiece not only in Japanese cinema, but in the history of dramas. It's a film where despite a simple premise and a short running time, it accomplishes a great deal and has many things to say about society, along with a number of other themes. If you love a good Japanese film, this one is indeed worth seeing.
User Review - 8/10 by Michael TEarly Mizoguchi film that deals with one of his usual themes: the social issue of geishas. The film is as simple and logical as an enlightenment novel regarding plot: there are two sisters, diametrically different in character, in the same situation (they are both geishas) and each deals with it her own way (the younger hates men, is cynical and wants revenge for the position she is in; the older is more stoical, cares about the feelings of others and wants to please them and she loves a man who abandons her in the end) . The film ends with a shot that frames the two of them after they realized that both reached the same dead-end after following different paths. The camera zooms in the face of the younger one who is lying on the hospital bed, while she speaks a monologue that conveys directly this dead-end and all the issues the film is concerned with (''Why is there such a profession as the geisha's at all?''). This final monologue, while it's a bit awkward in its directness and feels like the melodramatic social awareness disrupts the fiction and becomes a message for the viewer, it is also touching because of the building up of the drama up to that point. At least it's not as embarassing as Chaplin's The Great Dictator final monologue though there is a certain relation. The cinematography is wonderful at times with subtle camera movements and very atmospheric use of black and white. Some nice camera angles help evoke the feeling of the pleasure quarters of Japan at the time and also some night scenes of the city are really good. Very good performances that shine despite the lack of close ups. Mizoguchi seems to like taking a distance from the emotions and let the actions of the body speak for itself. This style is linked to the social awareness of his films as, despite the melodramatic plot, the distance manages to frame relations between individuals and not intensified individual feelings; it is a non-melodramatic style for melodramatic plots. This lack of close ups also intensifies the final zoom in as it takes greater significance. The film is not as rich as the later great works of Mizoguchi as it seems pretty straightforward, but it still holds much power and indicates what would follow after the war.
User Review - 8/10 by Aephraim SExcellent film, and it's incredible to think that it was made in 1936. I suppose it's not fair to compare with Western prudishness, and in some ways it's a natural outgrowth of traditions like Bunraku, but in others still stunningly modern for the time. After having had to try to give the "African Queen" the benefit of the doubt for its vintage not long ago, it's telling to compare with this.
User Review - 8/10 by Kevin NMy awe of the limitlessness of Kenji Mizoguchi's visual creativity is once again renewed. This, one of his earliest sound films, is so filled with lively movement that it gives the tragic plot a pulse that keeps us connected to these selfish characters. The two leads, who play the title sisters, demand both empathy and pity as they burn through lusty men in the pursuit of the fattest wallet; Mizoguchi is careful with the subject of prostitution here as he always is- as an unfortunate and disturbing human role but also one that must be taken seriously, one that people must be a part of to survive. His camera work is nothing short of stunning; effortless tracking shots and complex framing make the world around the subjects as interesting as they are.
User Review - 8/10 by Jack Gone of those films where it's pretty good for most of it (and it's a short feature-length film really) and in the last ten minutes it shows its true colors. some of the dialog is a little too on-the-nose, but the direction really carries so much of this through with deep focus and long takes and compositions that make me giddy as I sit there at serious subject matter like pre-WW2 Japanese Feminism.
User Review - 8/10 by Trill FA kindhearted geisha takes in a former client who has fallen on hard times, prompting her younger sister to seek wealthy patronage by fair means or foul. Who will prosper, the generous or the greedy sister? Well, neither one actually, which is precisely the point that Mizoguchi is making here: honourable or selfish, the geisha will be exploited just the same; she cannot win. The ending, a passionate tirade against the continuing existence of geisha girls in Japanese society, is bleak and powerful, but the male bad behaviour that sets it up feels a mite forced and unconvincing, out of character even. The two women are great though, especially Omocha (Isuzu Yamada), the younger sister, whose femme fatale-like duplicity drives the narrative. Lovely camerawork.
User Review - 8/10 by Walter MTwo sisters who work as geisha have opposing views on how men should be treated. A good Mizoguchi movie that allows for different perspectives within his usual subject matter.

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