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Memoirs of a Geisha filming in Kyoto

gedatsu said:
Oh whats wrong with Zhang Ziyi!! I know the fact she isnt japanese is, well, strange for this movie. But i think she is still a good actress (and very beautiful), so i think it will be fine.
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i don't have a problem with zhang ziyi personally, in fact she is quite hot. however, i do not like the fact that they cast her in this role, after reading the book, i was hoping for a older more mature actress, and also japanese. as well, i guess she is going to have to bone up on her english seeing she only had a few lines in Rush Hour 2. this is probably going to be a big movie --> a la Last Samurai, but i don't know if i will like it

p.s. - why can't they make movies anymore without taking the concept from a book/comic/video game?!?!?!!?
 

yeah it is... and as a japanese person it kinda pisses me off... but thats hollywood for you...

its a fictional biography... the events tho that were in the book is true... that is what happened when you were a geisha... but it was not an actual account...
 
Wow, looks like half the cast is Chinese so far? Hmmmmm....
 
「くおて＝」kirei_na_me Wow, looks like half the cast is Chinese so far? Hmmmmm.... [/quote]

Minxie said:
yeah it is... and as a japanese person it kinda pisses me off... but thats hollywood for you...
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I would also prefer to see Japanese actors only, especially for the main characters. And on top of that Zhang Ziyi really does not look Japanese.

But I feel the same way about most historical Hollywood movies. I attach a lot of importance in the historical authenticity - even for more or less fictional stories like Troy or completely fictional ones like Gladiator or Memoirs of a Geisha.

One of my first reaction after seeing Gladiator was the surprise (and consternation) of having so many people of Germanic roots (blue eyes, fair hair), playing Roman roles. Only the Emperor really looked Roman. Then they had tigers in the colloseum... Even in a fictional story, they should keep the historical context plausible, and there has never been tigers in Europe or North Africa. Mind you there aren't any lions or elephants nowadays either, but historians should know that there were during the Antiquity. But tigers are Asian.

These are the kinds of mistakes that make some Europeans (esp. French speakers kana ?) criticize Hollywood as low-brow and overcommercial. That's a pity. They have the means to hire historians (one person would be enough) to correct these mistakes, and that doesn't cost them more to have Latin looking actors as Romans, Japanese ones as Japanese, and lions playing lions.
 
Maciamo said:
I would also prefer to see Japanese actors only, especially for the main characters. And on top of that Zhang Ziyi really does not look Japanese.
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I think the exact same thing. I don't think she looks Japanese either. Glad I'm not the only one who thinks that. Oh well.
 
Yeah she doesnt look japanese and its dissapointing they didnt select a more suitable actress for the role (and specifically a japanese person). However, it may be done well and i'll wait for the movie before i make too much of a judgement.

Following on from that, who do people think would have been a suitable choice?
 
I think that any of the MTV Japan VJs would have been a good choice. Young, beautiful, and speak english is what they are after right?
 
But I feel the same way about most historical Hollywood movies. I attach a lot of importance in the historical authenticity - even for more or less fictional stories like Troy or completely fictional ones like Gladiator or Memoirs of a Geisha.
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I know what you mean. The funniest part of Gladiator? The accents!



Don't even get me started on other films, like The Last Samurai.
 
What was wrong with the last samurai? Koyuki or Watanabe's Japanese not authentic enough?

I know I know, its Tom's Japanese. He didnt do that bad though.
 
There is nothing wrong with the Last Samurai; it's a great film. But, I fear too many people in America walked away from the film thinking it was based on fact, which it wasn't. Still, some exposure to foreign history and culture is better than nothing, even if it is stereotyped and cliche.

Btw, Ken Watanabe was awesome. Have you seen the previews for the upcoming Batman movie? It's based on Frank Miller's graphic novels and looks reaaaally dark. Ken plays Rashual Guel! (sp?)
 
mad pierrot said:
I know what you mean. The funniest part of Gladiator? The accents!



Don't even get me started on other films, like The Last Samurai.
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Last Samurai was a great movie portraying Japanese civilization at that time of the Meiji Era... it wasn't 100% historical, but it was somewhat...

Tom Cruise wasn't supposed 2 speak FLUENT japanese, nor was that other white guy who plays the translator... but I think he did a good job... The japanese who spoke english sound like all japanese people who start to learn english in the US... but honestly Tom Cruise did a much better job than Lucy Liu did in Kill Bill Volume 1... she didn't sound japanese at all... it sounded like Chinese/English to me...

and yeah... im not really happy about a whole chinese cast... what is up with that?! o well....
 
Tom Cruise wasn't supposed 2 speak FLUENT japanese, nor was that other white guy who plays the translator... but I think he did a good job... The japanese who spoke english sound like all japanese people who start to learn english in the US...
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No complaints with that aspect of the movie. I was refering to the way the changes in the government were portrayed. In reality, the roles would be reversed. That is, in reality the samurai would be the antagonists and the modernizers the protagonists.
 

asodesuka... wakarimashta
 
About the tigers in Gladiator: in ancient times, there were tigers in Persia, so it is quite plausible that an enterprising showman would have brought some to Rome. There were elephants in North Africa back then, too. Therefore, though I agree with Maciamo about the North-European look of most of the cast and about Hollywood's general lack of regard for authenticity, I disagree about the tigers.

As for The Last Samurai, I have to say I don't think it was a great movie. It was entertaining, but Tom reduced it greatly by getting up from that battlefield and going on to give the Emperor a lecture. He should have stayed dead.

I do think Geisha should have gone for a Japanese cast, definitely. I bet there'll be some noticeable flaws in the film that come from casting non-Japanese in major roles.
 
Anyway, back to the topic at hand.

Does anyone have any information on when they will be filming in Kyoto? From the research I've done it looks like they are in Beverly Hills
 

i think the only way they could really pull off a japanese cast for last samurai was because the main star of the film was tom cruise. They knew that people would come by the millions just to see him, because he's A-list. There is no real way to fit an A-list celeb into memiors, so they try and fit in people we know, so we may try and go... plain and simple
 
Local Actress Turns Down U.S. Director Steven Spielberg

Something is wrong with this actress declining an offer because of "pride," occupational or ethnic or whatever. And she chose to say that, while she could have come up with other generic reasons like being busy with other film shootings.
Possible explanations for such kind of strange comment:

a) She refuses any role but a perfectly wholesome heroine.
b) She somehow believes that the word "geisha" means "*****" or something.
c) She had to say that to make sure that she's not going to be harrased by angry Koreans.
d) She actually hates everything Japanese.
e) The "interview" is a fabrication or there was no such official "offer" coming from Spielberg.
f) The word "pride" means something different in Korean language.
g) Any combination of the above.
 
She makes it sound as if she'd be playing the role of Kobe Tai or something.
 
that's just ridiculous...
yaknow, it's still a paying role and it could make her really big in america.
she probably just made the biggest mistake in her career!
 
Oh I'm disappointed. I hope this movie comes out good!!

I'm not too pleased with the cast at all...

I agree with what everyone has been saying - zhang ziyi is def. chinese looking. I saw the pictures too, of the movie ... and she doesn't even look like a geisha. she looks more like a chinese opera singer.

Why couldn't the cast be more Japanese? I swear - if I didn't know any better I'd say it's because most western people can't tell the difference between chinese, japanese, korean ... etc. urgh. makes me angry! :box:

Ken Watanabe as the Chairman? ... but I always pictured him differently ... and not looking like Ken Watanabe .. lol -- don't get me wrong though - I love Ken Watanabe!!!

I wonder if anything will take place in the Toei movie center in Kyoto ... most likely.

Now ... from what I understand - Mineko Iwasaki, who was a real life geisha, was upset after the release of Memoirs of a Geisha. She claimed that Golden based the whole story on her, and wasn't accurate. So in return, she wrote Geisha, a Life to set the record straight. It's her account of her story from being a young girl training to be a geisha right up until the point where she quit the geisha life style (which was at the height of her popularity). I'm half way through Geisha, a Life ... and I've read Memoirs of a Geisha numerous times ... I'll probably end up writing a comparison essay between the two at some point ...

just wondering if anyone could affirm the above information ... about Mineko Iwasaki and Golden's book ... thanks!!
 
I don't particularly like Zhang Ziyi, but I don't hate her as much as most HK people I know. Anyway, I have never read the Memoir of a Geisha because.... Is Geisha kind of like ancient hostess? Not an appealing subject to me.

Anyway, since I couldn't tell the difference between Finn, Dutch, Swiss and Norwegian, I don't get upset with Americans who can't tell the difference between Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese and Koreans.
 
It's too bad they chose not a leading actress such as Mikeo Harada (from Kurosawa's RAN). She would have been perfect in this film, but then I was not the casting director.
 

Maybe I explained myself wrong.

I mean I can't stand it when people are just like: Oh they are all asian. therefore they are all the same.

That's just ignorance.

I don't expect EVERYONE to be able to tell the difference. But to just be like "they're all the same, whatever" is just plain stupidity. And I hate that.

....

I guess to explain a Geisha as an "ancient hostess" is semi-accurate. Of course there is much more to their lives than that, but it's the basic idea. A woman who is heavily trained in the arts and "entertains" men. Although I hate to call them prostitues - they are far from it, I believe.

But that's just me.
 
o0fish0o said:
I mean I can't stand it when people are just like: Oh they are all asian. therefore they are all the same.

That's just ignorance.
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you are being ignorant right now. you're not reading what she said. all she is saying is that she cant tell the difference between a british, french, german, norwegian, etc. i can barely do it. (i get confused with many white races, and i'm not fullblooded, i'm half hispanic.)
She's saying she wouldnt be offended if a chinese actress took place of japanese in a role, because it's still getting done. Be happy. Not picky.
anyways, why get all prissy over the casting in a movie? why use casting as a means of segregation? zhang ziyi is a popular asian actress in america and they casted her for that reason, NOT TO PISS YOU OFF! They prolly don't expect this movie to sell like Matrix, cause it's not a very known story or has people drop kicking and punching each other, so they are going to use the actors to help and sell it. Tell me a full cast of japanese only actors for this movie that are good with english and popular in america.
 
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