Memoirs of a Geisha (2005)

Kaori Momoi: Mother

Photos 

Quotes 

• Mother : Stop crying, your face will run!

• Mother : [tallying up little Chiyo's costs, after her fall]  Doctor Mora is very expensive. You seem to be racking up quite a debt. Kimono, destroyed. Train ticket, Mr. Bekku, rice and pickles, geisha school, and on top of the money I paid Mr. Tanaka. And for what?... And now I hear your sister has run away. She didn't wait for you and now she can never come back. You must forget you ever had a sister.

  [handing her a bundled package] 

  Mother : We are your only family now.

• Mother : We do not display our naked feet like monkeys.

• Mother : [to Chiyo, dressed as a geisha]  Hurry up! You're not making money standing there gawking at yourself.

• Narrator (Old Sayuri) : The winter I turned fifteen I saw the chairman again, but that wasn't the only surprise fate brought me that season. Along with the snow came a most unexpected visitor.

  Mother : Why is she here? Chiyo, Chiyo, open the gate!

  [motioning for her to open the door and straigtening herself before going to her table] 

  Mameha : Now that your beloved granny has gone you have no need for a maid.

  Mother : I would never question the great Mameha, but you could choose anyone in the Hanamachi.

  Mameha : You flatter me, truly.

  [bowering her head in compliment] 

  Mother : I would give you my pumpkin if she weren't already tied to Hatsumomo.

  Mameha : Please I would never dream of asking

  Mother : Besides, I can always sell Chiyo to Mrs. Tetsuyo.

  [smoking her cigerette] 

  Mameha : With your eye for beauty and nose for talent,surely you can see what a terrible waste that would be.

  Mother : If you were not the kind hearted Geisha I know you to be, then I might think that you werescheming against Hatsumomo.

  [looking towards the door where Chiyo and Pumpkin are listening] 

  Mameha : Then I'm grateful Mrs. Nita that you don't have a suspicious mind.

  Mother : Perhaps you can pique my interest with... your offer.

  Mameha : I will cover Chiyo's schooling, all her expenses, until after her debut.

  [proposing as she slides her cup across the table] 

  Mother : Now I am confident that you are teasing.

  [pouring more tea] 

  Mameha : I could not be more sincere. If Chiyo has not repaid her debt within six months after her debut.

  Mother : [scoffing]  Impossible, too little time!

  Mameha : Then I will pay you twice over.

  [uping the offer] 

  Mother : What...? No Geisha could ever...

  [pushing the tea towards Mameha] 

  Mameha : And I am certain you will not object to one trivial condition.

  Mother : Uh yes...?

  [puts down pipe, listening intently] 

  Mameha : If Chiyo erases her debt in the time allowed, You will not have any part in her future earnings.

  Mother : [smirks in acceptance] 

• Mother : [to Pumpkin]  Stop crying or your face will run.