Some of you will remember that I wrote about my thoughts on “Memoirs of a Geisha” a few weeks ago.
The New York Times has more information on the movie and some interesting quotes.
If the coming story in film is globalization, “Memoirs of a Geisha,” set for a Christmas release by Sony Pictures, may one day be seen as a movie at the tipping point. Based on an American novel about a hidden aspect of Japanese life, it relies heavily on three stars of Chinese cinema and has no white stars. The San Francisco Bay doubled for the Sea of Japan, while Ventura in Southern California housed an entire Japanese town for the shoot last fall, and the Yamashiro Restaurant in Hollywood served as a Kyoto teahouse.
And then later on some comments from the director and one of the producers.
Perhaps the greatest oddity in Mr. Marshall’s enterprise is that his lead geishas are played by Chinese actresses: Ziyi Zhang (“Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”), Gong Li (“Farewell My Concubine”) and Michelle Yeoh (“Tomorrow Never Dies”). “There were no female Japanese actors of the right age remotely comparable to Zhang or Gong whose English was good enough,” Ms. Fisher said. “Some wouldn’t even audition.”
Mr. Marshall, a former Broadway choreographer, was particularly taken with Ms. Zhang’s background as a dancer. “I saw a lot of Japanese actors who would have had a harder time than Ziyi training to be a geisha: singing, tea service, conversation and dance.”
…”greatest oddity” – that’s what the NY Times writer said. Not me.
I’m still disappointed that there are no Japanese female actors of the quality that were needed for this film.
I wonder what the Japanese will think about Zhang. I have a sinking feeling that the buzz in Japan will be less than if the lead female actors were Japanese.
Memoirs of a Chinese-American Geisha [nytimes.com]
Gen Kanai weblog: thoughts on “Memoirs of a Geisha” [kanai.net]
It seems that authenticity will be an expected second to entertainment. While actors Li, Yeoh and Zhang are wonderful actors, it is hard to believe that Japanese actors are not out there. I think the recruitment effort was dismal. Hollywood’s answer was disappointing, but expected. It hasn’t been that long that Asian characters in movies were portrayed by, “scotchtape Asians”.
Another thought is perhaps the controversy with Golden caused a quiet boycott by the geisha community.
With Zhang Ziyi on TV in Japan every night for her hair product commercials, I doubt that she’ll have a problem being accepted.
They might treat the film like another Lost in Translation where they put it out in super limited release at first and after the western buzz came back around put it out for broad release.
Yumiko, I think your last comment is really interesting. Golden’s book did cause a stir in Kyoto- so much so that his mentor, a very famous geisha, wrote her own autobiography to counter Golden’s work.
I think the main reason Zhang, Li, and Yeoh were chosen is because they have name recognition. There are very few Asian or Asian American actors that anyone outside of the Asian or Asian American community recognizes. And since it’s essentially a Hollywood film, they will place a lot of wait on marketability. Even though they claim to have done a search of Japanese actresses, name recognition carries weight.
I read the book. It was so-so in my opinion; and based on that I have no immediate desire to see the film.
Gen,
I think that anyone who has put time, effort and take themselves and their art seriously would want to be collectively mispresented. I would think that geishas are no exception.
I was surprised when the “cattle call” for Asian extra’s came to northern California as recent as this January.