Posted on 11/28/2005 7:10:53 AM PST by Hildy
TOKYO (Reuters) - A dream team of movie stars from China and Japan gathered in Tokyo on Monday to promote "Memoirs of a Geisha," the first big-budget Hollywood romance to feature an almost entirely Asian cast.
But a day ahead of the world premiere, some in Japan were wondering why homegrown talent was shut out of the leading roles in a film that celebrates Japan's unique culture.
Harsher comments have come from China, where bitter feelings over Japan's 1931-45 occupation of parts of the country make the idea of Chinese playing geisha unacceptable to some.
Based on a best-selling novel, backed by Steven Spielberg and directed by Rob Marshall of the multiple Oscar-winning "Chicago", "Memoirs" has generated enormous media interest.
The cast adds up to Asia's A-list, with China's Ziyi Zhang starring as Sayuri, a poor fisherman's daughter who transforms herself into a legend of Kyoto's mysterious entertainment world in the 1930s.
The two other leading roles are played by Gong Li, also of China, and ethnic Chinese Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh, with Japanese performers relegated to secondary roles.
"Memoirs," reported to have cost its makers $85 million, can ill afford to alienate moviegoers in Japan, the second biggest market for Hollywood films.
But some have already expressed anger at what they see as a cavalier attitude to the subtleties of traditional costume and dance in a movie largely shot on a specially built set in California.
"According to this film, 'geisha' dance in a bizarre fashion, as if they were in a Los Angeles strip show," one Japanese film fan complained on a Web log, or blog, adding that the lights and special effects were more reminiscent of modern Las Vegas than old Kyoto.
"We should boycott this film and send a clear message to Hollywood. Why on earth have they made a film making fun of the Japanese, when they cannot get by without us?" the blog continued.
Chinese bloggers were outraged.
"She's sold her soul and betrayed her country. Hacking her to death would not be good enough," China's state media quoted one blogger as saying of Zhang.
Dressed in an off-white cocktail dress with her hair piled high, Zhang told a packed news conference she saw the film as a step forward for Asian actors.
"I am really grateful to Rob Marshall for giving us this incredible chance to show the whole world Asian actors' ability," she said on Monday. "We can do so much more than people think."
ARTISTIC IMPRESSION
In Kyoto, the center of Japan's traditional arts, the reaction was more circumspect, in keeping with the western Japanese city's customary discretion.
"It's a Hollywood movie. It's just entertainment, so what can we do?" said an official at the Kyoto Traditional Musical Art Foundation, which promotes the music, dance and other arts of old Japan. "Hollywood has always done things like ignoring history."
"Complaining about it will just focus attention on it, so we plan to ignore it," he added, saying that the foundation had turned down requests to take part in promotional events connected with the premiere.
Director Marshall has long emphasised that he was not trying to create an accurate picture of the Japan of the 1930s and that he felt he had chosen the best actors for each role, regardless of nationality.
"The challenge for me was to bring that world to life. For me, it is an artistic impression of that world," he said on Monday.
And some Japanese who saw the preview were pleasantly surprised.
"It was strange, but not in a bad way," said one magazine writer, who declined to be identified. "I think because they are foreigners they have been able to create a vision of Japanese beauty that we could not, because we would be trying to recreate reality," she added.
Japan has a record of accepting Hollywood versions of itself without complaint. Industry reports said "The Last Samurai" (2003), starring Tom Cruise and set in 19th century Japan, grossed more in Japan than in the United States.
"Memoirs of a Geisha" caused controversy in Japan long before it became a movie.
Mineko Iwasaki, the main inspiration for Arthur Golden's book, sued the author for failing to maintain her privacy, after he described such practices as "mizuage" or the selling of a young geisha's virginity to the highest bidder, which she has been reported as saying does not exist.
How about your favorite American Indian?
Mel Brooks?
Hahaha
If you want to see Kingsley at his best, get "Sexy Beast". He plays the best villain I have ever seen. It is an English movie and sometimes the accents are a little thick (not as bad as "Snatch"). It's a mob movie involving a heist. Very enjoyable.
Another golden oldie...
Milla completely
fooled me. She'd made some movies
in France. She looked so
natural, I thought
she was French and then came here
to hit the big time.
Turns out, she was born
in the Ukraine, she was raised
in California,
and in real life she
talks almost like a val girl.
Sometimes you can't tell.
I guess they DO all look alike!
I honestly can't tell. I work with quite a few Chinese and their facial features and skin tones have at least as much variation as among people from Europe. Some have quite dark skin (compared to mine) while others are even lighter. Some have very flat, angular faces, while other have very European features. They mostly all have dark/black hair, but again that comes in a wide variety of textures. And from what I've seen the Japanese and Koreans are equally varied in their looks.
It's 'cause all the best cowboys have chinese eyes.
That's because Japanese women are too short to play the role.
Basically most of us can't. In Hong Kong up until about 1985 if someone speaks English and looks "white" the local HK Chinese wouldn't be able to tell who's who. A German mixed up with American, or a French mixed up with a New Zealander.
Even today most would not be able to tell an Australian from a British - and even some Americans with New England accents will be confused with Poms.
Last year there was a Japanese TV series about the brother of Pu Yi who married a Japanese princess as his wife on Hong Kong's TVB. The character of Pu Yi and a couple of others were played by Japanese actors/actresses. The results were lots of disgust from HK Chinese: "How could they have Japanese playing Chinese?" etc.
The prejudice runs both ways. Most mainland Chinese TV series about the Sino-Japanese war period have Chinese actors/actresses playing Japanese characters and nary a word of protest is sounded in China.
http://sites.gizoogle.com/?url=http://www.mhrcc.org/fdr/chat2.html
"On a Sunday night a wizzy afta mah Inaugizzle I used tha radio ta tiznell you `bout tha bank'n crisis n tha measures we were tak'n ta mizzy it n shit. I think thiznat in that way I made clear ta tha country various facts that M-to-tha-izzight otherwise have bizzle misunderstood n in general provided a means of understand'n W-H-to-tha-izzich did much ta restore confidence n shit.
"Tonight, eight weeks bitch I come fo` tha second tizzy ta gizzle you mah report -- in tha same spirit n by tha same means ta tizzle you `bout what we have been doing n whiznat we is doggy stylin' ta do.
"Two months ago we were sippin' serious problems. The country was dying by inches. It was dying coz trade n commerce had declined ta dangerously low levels; prices fo` basic commodizzles were such as ta destroy tha value of tha assets of national institutions such as banks, sav'n banks, insurance companies, n drug deala now pass the glock Anotha dogg house production.. These institutions, coz of they bootylicious needs, were rhymin' mortgages, call'n loans, saggin' credit. Thus there was actually in process of destruction tha property of millions of thugz who had borrowed money on thiznat property in terms of $$ cash-money whiznich had had an entirely different value fizzle tha level of March, 1933 . Relax, cus I'm bout to take my respect. Tizzle situation in T-H-to-tha-izzat crisis did not ciznall fo` any complicated considerizzles of economic panaceas or fancy plans so you betta run and grab yo glock. We wizzle faced by a condition n not a theory."
I believe this is when the Dixiecrat movement started.
Genres: Drama and Romance Release Date: December 9th, 2005 (NY/LA/SF), December 16th, 2005 (limited), December 23rd, 2005 (wide) MPAA Rating: PG-13 for mature subject matter and some sexual content. Distributors: DreamWorks SKG, Sony Pictures Releasing
BORING!!!
Went and saw it last night..thought it was a very good movie
Thank you.
People should realize this is just a movie. Three of the most exotic and beautiful women in the world get a lot of face time in this movie. That is worth the price of admission right there. Gong Li, Michelle Yeoh and Ziyi Zhang in one movie -- that is priceless.
If these women want to play the part of the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus or Tony the Tiger I will be there.
Well, Tony the Tiger wears only a neckerchief. The other two require too much clothing for my tastes...
LOL
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