This is my final post on "Memoirs of a Geisha," which I've written about in the past quite extensively with regards to casting the movie, my thoughts on the film, tracking reivews. The movie is a failure by any stretch of the imagination with the actors defending the movie in hindsight.
Then the Chinese government decided to cancel the release of the movie in China, which was supposed to be a significant reason for the casting of the Chinese female leads. Of course this means that the movie is now very popular in the underground, pirated movie market- which means none of those profits will go to legitimate rights holders.
The ban, however, only applies to theater screenings of "Geisha." DVD stores in Beijing quickly began selling pirated copies in English for about €1 per copy. "It's been sold out for days now," says one dealer, who sells his wares in the state-owned "Friendship Stores" in Beijing's embassy district. "I have no idea what it is about this film that people like so much."
The popular underground sales of the film suggest that the official censors' argument is just a pretext for the real reason. They haven't banned the film out of fear of anti-Japan protests. The real reasoning behind the decision to shut "Geisha" out of the Chinese market is that the conservative censors themselves felt their national honor had been damaged -- and they wanted to teach their beautiful Hollywood exports that they shouldn't just be thinking about money and fame, but also their homeland. But it also gave the censors the opportunities to thumb their noses at the Japanese. The Chinese allege the Japanese have few regrets about the past atrocities they committed against them, and the message to Tokyo through this decision was clear: "We're not interested in your culture." Der Spiegel
William Pesek of Bloomberg has some interesting insights into the mess that this movie has become.
Japan's qualms with ``Memoirs of a Geisha'' miss a bigger point relevant to Asia's largest economy. Yes, a film with so specific a setting should star Japanese. While many seethe that major roles went to Zhang, Gong and Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh, Marshall also has a point. His casting decisions reflect a dearth of internationally known Japanese actors who can speak English.
After all, Hollywood wouldn't have made the film if it wouldn't appeal to the lucrative, yet subtitle-adverse U.S. market. One reason there are few globally known Japanese actors: Japan's large domestic market creates few incentives for film studios and actors to search for audiences or projects abroad.
There's a lesson here for Japan Inc. Japanese are ravenous consumers and, until now, a 127 million-person market seemed big enough. As sales soared in the heady 1980s and stayed reasonably brisk during the recession-plagued 1990s, companies were slow to look abroad.
Chinese critics are missing the point, too. Seeing homegrown actresses eclipse Japan's should be reason to celebrate China's rising dominance not only in the area of economics, but culture. Instead, nationalist tendencies are spoiling this moment in the spotlight.
Finally, there's a lesson here for investors. While it may come as a surprise to folks in the West, Chinese, Japanese and Koreans don't tend to think they look alike. Hollywood's who'd- know-the-difference mindset in casting films is comparable to how some investors view Asia. Some see it as an undifferentiated collection of nations that are hard to get their arms around.
Bloomberg.com: 'Geisha' Offers Asian Business Lessons
The reality of this financial and political mess is that it will be harder to get an Asian or Japanese or Chinese movie green-lighted because studios will be more risk-averse. The lack of global-quality Japanese actresses will continue.
Status quo, sadly for us all.
Gen, did you watch Geisha? I did though I had similar objections to it as you, since I was curious. I (cough) didn't pay for it though.
Excellent post Gen. As a Taiwanese, I disagree with Zhang and Gong on leading roles on this film too. But for numerous reason they would get the role anyway. Zhang works really hard, she would try anything to get this role (don't forget its a Speilberg film). Gong is gradually aged and she wishes to extend her stage to Hollyhood urgently (heard that she's on the Miami Vice movie too as a bad lady again).
Back to Zhang. I recalled when I had my MBA in the States, all my classmates from China would fight for their extended stay in the US for a better job and living. I mean it's about survival, beyond nationalism. Zhang is agressive as we all can see. Ang Lee told her not to do TV, she kept the promises and fight for her rights in Hollywood.
Having said so I am not actually Zhang's fan (she's not my type). I even like Matsuda Seiko more...when I was a child. But I respect Zhang's solid-like-rock determination of making movie /surviving in Hollywood. I doubt how many Japanese actress can handle pressure as her does.
"His casting decisions reflect a dearth of internationally known Japanese actors who can speak English. "
More to the point, there is a dearth of Japanese actors who can speak (and act (even to the lowly level that Hollywood demands) in) English, full stop.
Before I watched this film, I already had a set preconception of what to expect. From my perspective, ignoring the heavy mandarin accents and cultural inaccuracies, this movie was a time period piece reflecting the spirit of people during this time. To be fair, the cinematography was impressive.
Since I can remember, I've been continuously disappointed time after time by American tv shows or movies misrepresenting Chinese culture. For the majority of the general public who base all their knowledge of ethnic culture on media like this, there's not much we can do for them. However, for the small percentage of people who are more "aware", (perhaps our generation), these are the people who will be responsible for advancing world culture into forward thinking. Therefore, there is still hope.
You can take new shows like Grey's Anatomy where they have shown distinct differences in Asian ethnicities like H'mong, Korean, Chinese, Japanese. And even in casting, they represented an accurate likeness.
The world is slowly changing. :)
Saw the movie last week. Beautifully photographed and the actors need to be commended for their artistic efforts. On the other hand, there were many examples where the direction, costume design, makeup were distractingly off. It would have been better to wait for the dvd.
I have been watching alot of the old classic japanese films. Lots of great actors and actresses there... and directors. What happened? :(