MovieChat Forums > Memoirs of a Geisha (2005) Discussion > Could this be the cause of Pumpkins 'bad...

Could this be the cause of Pumpkins 'bad luck'

posted 11 years ago by summerishere77
9 replies | jump to latest

I love this movie, I think it's beautiful and interesting. (No I don't take it as fact, it's based on a fictional book.)

Any who, when Chiyo is watching Hatsumomo leave, Auntie strikes the flint behind her and tells her 'for good luck.'

Fast forward to when Sayuri is going out on her first night with Mameha, they strike the flint for her as well.

Back track (I know I'm getting there) when Pumpkin is going out on her first night, nobody strikes the flint for her. Why did they forget? Is it addressed in the book?

[–] leegary1982 11 years ago

I have the book, they all had the flint stuck on them, but unfortunately for Pumpkin, she had Hatsumomo as an Older sister whice may have seemed like a good idea , for Hatsumomo was very popular but also evil and ill tempered, and did not really end up helping Pumpkin, Sayuri had Mameha to help and ended up surpassing even Hatsumomo in popularity and money so that's why mother adopted her

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[–] summerishere77 11 years ago

I felt badly for how her life as a maiko started out. Hatsumomo is a horrible person to be tied to. We didn't even get to find out if Pumpkin had a new name like Chiyo.
She did however do very well during the invasion/occupation.

[–] unknown_soul278 11 years ago

The book tells us the nickname 'Pumpkin' was actually given to her as a child by Chiyo when Chiyo first arrives at the okiya. Pumpkin was given a geisha name, but by that time everyone was so used to calling her Pumpkin that is the name that stuck and most people did not even remember her geisha name. I don't recall any mention of the flint being struck on Pumpkin's back, and we do find out that she did support herself for 2-3 years as a prostitute.

It is also mentioned that there were rumors of Hatsumomo working as a prostitute for a short time but it wasn't known for sure. Her expulsion from the okiya was under different circumstances, though... she literally went insane.

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[–] eternal_jinx 8 years ago

Actually the book, while written as a fictional telling, is true. Sayuri is a real woman who disclosed the details of her life to the author.

Mineko Iwasaki us yet name and age wrote her own version after being disappointed in memoirs. It's called geisha of gion. It has pictures!

[–] eternal_jinx 8 years ago

*is her name and she wrote