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Memoirs of a Geisha filming in Kyoto

im afraid that the movie will suck...

but lets see it first, and then judge.
 
Hollywood Geisha premieres in Japan

Geisha203-1.jpg


Leading casts of "Memoirs of a Geisha" pose for photographers during a press conference in Tokyo Monday, Nov. 28, 2005.
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.
 
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This is just my opinion, but I think that Geisha will rank right up there with The Chronicles of Narnia and King Kong as the most hotly anticipated movies to come out this holiday season. I'll certainly want to see it!
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I agree. There's more buzz about Memoirs then just about any other movie coming out. More cult buzz anyway, media buzz is about the same but as far as what PEOPLE are talking about it's near the top of the list.
 
I cannot wait to see it, even if the main actresses are Chinese:)eek:). I've been waiting for this ever since the book came out. I knew it was destined to be a movie. Can't wait to compare movie and book.
 
I had a look at the website of our main cinema in here. but they don't have it in their list of upcoming movies, so I am afraid that it will only come in the cult-cinema , or later in march or april, after seeing how the reviews were in the states... to bad ...
 
I'm also looking forward to Geisha, mainly for Zhang Ziyi. Hell, I'd pay cash money to watch that woman wash clothes at the laundermat. She's all that and a case of chips! Hubba hubba!

:D :D :D :D :D
 
"Memoirs of a Geisha" Film Kicks up Storm in Japan and China (Knight Ridder article)
If there's dismay in Japan, there's outrage in China, but for a different reason: Many Chinese are beside themselves that the film's star, Zhang Ziyi, China's best-known actress, is depicted in the movie as having sexual relations with a Japanese man.

"She deserves to be chopped into a thousand bits," said one Internet user, one of more than 1,000 people who posted on the subject at the Tianji (Sky's Edge) Web portal.
As expected.
 
Here ya guys go:
'Geisha' sends a love letter to Japan?

December 4, 2005

TOKYO -- For an American film starring a Chinese actress in a Japanese role, "Memoirs of a Geisha" picked a tough town for its world premiere.

The film version of the best-selling novel of the same title debuted Tuesday in Tokyo to mixed reactions fueled by concerns of cultural authenticity.

The film is rife with international credentials, but that global touch has many questioning: Can Chinese actresses accurately portray the subtleties of Japanese culture? Can an American director -- working from an American novel -- do justice to a geisha tradition that is largely misunderstood outside Japan?

Director Rob Marshall, who won a best picture Oscar with "Chicago" in 2002, has tried to dispel some of those concerns, saying he aimed to set the record straight on geisha -- who are often seen in the West as glorified prostitutes.

He also defended the choice of Chinese star Ziyi Zhang ("Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon") for the title role of the Japanese geisha, Sayuri, saying "she is just the right person for that part."

The story chronicles a young girl's rise from poverty in a Japanese fishing village to life in high society as a geisha -- a woman schooled in the art of dance, singing and conversation to be a companion for wealthy men.

Besides Zhang, the cast includes Japanese actor Ken Watanabe ("The Last Samurai") as Chairman, Sayuri's secret lifelong love interest, and Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh ("Tomorrow Never Knows") and Chinese star Gong Li ("Raise the Red Lantern"). Three Japanese actresses play the other major female parts -- Kaori Momoi, Youki Kudoh, and Suzuka Ohgo as the young Sayuri.

Watanabe said Monday he was "very impressed at how dedicated" his Chinese colleagues were in learning about Japanese culture, referring to a six-week crash course in geisha culture that Zhang and the others underwent.

The director and his multinational cast were at Tokyo's national sumo arena for the first public look at a film that has already created an international buzz.

"We wanted to premiere the movie here in Tokyo, because it is a love story, and it also a love story about Japan," Marshall said.

Set to open Dec. 9 in the United States on a platform release and Dec. 10 in Japan, the joint U.S.-Japan production is based on the novel of the same name by Arthur Golden. The book spent two years on the New York Times best-seller list and sold more than 4 million copies in English.

Japanese viewers were curious to see how Hollywood would portray their country, but not all were convinced.

"I felt like I was watching a movie set in China, rather than Japan," said 28-year-old office worker Yumiko Kamiyama. "I am a big Ziyi Zhang fan, which is why I wanted to see this. But I will not be recommending it to my friends."

Others, however, thought the appealing story line overcame such concerns.

"We very quickly got drawn into that world of the geisha, and I forgot about those things," said Kiyomi Matsumoto, 39. "This movie showed a beautiful side of Japan. The women and the kimono were very beautiful."

"The life of the geisha is something foreign to most modern Japanese, anyway, so it doesn't matter if Chinese or Japanese play the roles," said moviegoer Yuriko Ozawa. "I think the story line is very simple, and women especially will like it."

AP
 
I am very much looking forward to the movie as I thought the book was excellent. Having a Chinese play the starring role does seem a bit odd though. But if an actor or actress is professional enough and learns their roles well, anyone can be fooled into thinking they are the real thing. After all, it is their job to convince us. Besides, as was proved in a post on this forum, the majority of people, for the most part, cannot tell Koreans from Chinese from Japanese. I know it's damn difficult for me unless I hear them speak.

Wasn't there a fuss on Broadway some years back about a caucasion starring in the lead role of "Miss Saigon"? I think there was a strike until an asian or Vietnamese actress was found. I cannot remember the details.

The director saying that Ziyi Zhang was picked because she is right for the part is a bunch of crap in my opinion. I can think of plenty of beautiful Japanese actresses who could've filled the role. Look at Yoko Shimada in 'Shogun'. She didn't speak one word of English (well, maybe a few words as all Japanese do) when she was picked for the role of Mariko. And she pulled it off damn well in the mini-series. I'm still in love with her!

The director probably wanted a famous Asian name that would be recognized the world over to bring in the crowds. If Ziyi Zhang can pull it off and convince me she is a Japanese geisha and really looks the part, it wouldn't matter to me if she is Chinese. And it probably shouldn't matter to the Chinese or Japanese either.

I felt like I was watching a movie set in China, rather than Japan," said 28-year-old office worker Yumiko Kamiyama.
What would she know anyway? She's too young and probably doesn't even know that almost her entire culture, including the Kanji and archtecture were "borrowed" from the Chinese!

I remember viewing Shogun on TV with a couple of Japanese when it first came out in Japan and one woman said, "It looks like China!" I thought to myself, "You sure do not know anything about your own country's culture or archetecture." What an ignorant thing to say as the scenery and archetecture were authentic to me as I had briefly studied those things like Japanese historical archetecture. Besides, it was filmed in Japan! And I'm a foreigner! Even the Japanese are ignorant on these things to some extent.
 
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