Zhang Ziyi In Memoirs Of A Geisha

[maverick]

Are the French throwing tantrums because Kristen Dunst is playing Marie Antoinette? No.

Yes!

 

[CharlottefromCA]

thanks for the lovely pictures TaTa!.. I made me a new avatar!.. karma!

 

[maverick]

yeah but then why even bother putting chinese stars???
they could've put lucy liu as the main star...
they could've cast natalie portman and don't even bother with the ethnicity problem at all, right???
i mean c'mon those stars don't even know how to speak english for crying out loud!!!!
anyways...i'm off...i don't have the patience to handle this and i get angry and excited really easily...i'm trembling right now...

​

Michelle Yeoh is Malaysian.

 

[*tata*]

yeah but then why even bother putting chinese stars???
they could've put lucy liu as the main star...
they could've cast natalie portman and don't even bother with the ethnicity problem at all, right???
i mean c'mon those stars don't even know how to speak english for crying out loud!!!!
anyways...i'm off...i don't have the patience to handle this and i get angry and excited really easily...i'm trembling right now...


​

as much as we see things differently....the last comment made me laugh

 

[morbidexistence]

i'm here again...
btw michelle yeoh is malaysan...BUT...her parents are ethnically chinese...
her name Yeoh is chinese... and they gave her a whole chinese name...

 

[Artemis]

I would have liked Maggie Cheung in the lead but oh well...

 

[Zen]

I am a Korean American woman, and I myself can tell the difference
between Chinese, Korean and Japanese. When I first saw the
names of the actors who were in this film I knew right away they
were Chinese. One who stood out who is Japanese was Ken Watanabe.
It is very easy to distinguish when you see the actors/actress names.
Maybe the idea of Chinese actors being in this film protraying Japanese
Geishas may get in some peoples nerves, but do remember the person
who wrote Memoirs of a Geisha is not only a man, he is also white.
I read Memoirs of a Geisha three times (with no prejudice) because
it is one of my favorite novels, and what matters to me, and that I ask
frequently these days...."will this film live up to it's expectations?"
I sure hope so, because regardless I admire the actors in this film,
they are good spirited,talented and beautiful actors and actresses.
I wish them the best and I hope so see some of them at the oscars!!!!

 

[xxdakenxx]

yeah it's all about money and it's all just a movie but the fact that chinese actresses were chosen to play the roles of gueishas by americans just hide the fact of well...prejudice...it's like saying chinese, korean and japanese is all the same thing...sorry but i think that's offensive...you're probably not from this ethnicity...so you don't care because it's not you... ianyways i just think people are forgetting what's so offensive about it...of course there is nothing wrong with a chinese playing a japanese person unless there are all those circumstances that i'm telling you...

Excuse me for jaming into the discussion.

I think Morbidexistence highlighted exactly the point that western people do not get about the 'offensive' part about the whole Chinese actress playing a japanese character issue. Imagine if (East)Indian film makers make a movie about the history of America and cast Antonio Bandaris as George Washington. Do you think the American would be at least slightly ticked off and feeling that Indian people are ignorant? It is the ya'll-Asian-are-the-same-to-us PREJUSTICE that white people have towards Asian people that we find offensive. It's like I am Chinese and if some white guy come up to me and ask me to show him some Ninja move, I would be at least somewhat offensed. And I bet if I come up to an native West African and ask him to show me how to breakdance, he would feel the same.

If it were Chinese film makers making a movie in China about Geisha and cast a well known Chinese actress to play the Geisha, I don't think neither the Chinese nor the Japanese would be offensed.

But anyways, I actually think the whole thing is blown out of proportation already. Because in this case, at least Zhang Ziyi and Gong Li can, in my opinion, pull off the Japanese look (not Michelle though..... i mean com' on, she's obviously got that darker skin and features that largely distingush South-east Asian from more Northern East Asain such as Korean and Japanese). If they are so sensitive about it then there should have been 100x more noise when the Last Samurai came out, which, I think, was a great movie but is ridiculously far-fetched.

 

[CChristina]

i mean com' on, she's obviously got that darker skin and features that largely distingush South-east Asian from more Northern East Asain such as Korean and Japanese).

It all depends on the region, certain part of china, vietnam, etc have people with VERY light skin. The only thing that is more "obvious" in the Koreans and Japanese people from what i can see is that MOST don't have the pronounce double eyelids as others.

 

[Hanne]

Can we please get back on topic, thank you

 

[meowmix]

ech i saw the trailer for this... it looks like the sets and the costumes will be interesting, but not too sure about how the plot will turn out. the trailer was TERRIBLE though

 

[nouveau]

can i just say that gong li looks BEYOND gorgeous in those pics ... and whats up with michelle yeoh"s hair and makeup? i really don't think geishas used hair dye back in those days. anyway having all the actors speaking english is gonna be so awkward and weird...

and i really can't see why there would be such a big oscar buzz around it...its not exactly the last emperor...i mean the material it's based on isn't exactly all that strong to start with...if the movie is anything like the book its just gonna be very sappy and formulaically chick-flicky

 

[Avant Garde]

Sorry if this sounds stupid, but what exactly is a Geisha? I looked it up on wikipedia, but I didnt get to much info. Thanks to anyone who can help me

 

[LoveMyBoots]

I just wrote a post and it didn't get through so I will try again...

Geisha are artists, not prostitutes as Westerners seem to believe. Yes, their job is to appeal to men. But to do so they have to acquire skills in dancing, conversing, beauty application, walking, etc. Geisha were very admired during their time. Here is a summary provided by Amazon:

Amazon.com
According to Arthur Golden's absorbing first novel, the word "geisha" does not mean "prostitute," as Westerners ignorantly assume--it means "artisan" or "artist." To capture the geisha experience in the art of fiction, Golden trained as long and hard as any geisha who must master the arts of music, dance, clever conversation, crafty battle with rival beauties, and cunning seduction of wealthy patrons. After earning degrees in Japanese art and history from Harvard and Columbia--and an M.A. in English--he met a man in Tokyo who was the illegitimate offspring of a renowned businessman and a geisha. This meeting inspired Golden to spend 10 years researching every detail of geisha culture, chiefly relying on the geisha Mineko Iwasaki, who spent years charming the very rich and famous.
The result is a novel with the broad social canvas (and love of coincidence) of Charles Dickens and Jane Austen's intense attention to the nuances of erotic maneuvering. Readers experience the entire life of a geisha, from her origins as an orphaned fishing-village girl in 1929 to her triumphant auction of her mizuage (virginity) for a record price as a teenager to her reminiscent old age as the distinguished mistress of the powerful patron of her dreams. We discover that a geisha is more analogous to a Western "trophy wife" than to a prostitute--and, as in Austen, flat-out prostitution and early death is a woman's alternative to the repressive, arcane system of courtship. In simple, elegant prose, Golden puts us right in the tearoom with the geisha; we are there as she gracefully fights for her life in a social situation where careers are made or destroyed by a witticism, a too-revealing (or not revealing enough) glimpse of flesh under the kimono, or a vicious rumor spread by a rival "as cruel as a spider."

Golden's web is finely woven, but his book has a serious flaw: the geisha's true romance rings hollow--the love of her life is a symbol, not a character. Her villainous geisha nemesis is sharply drawn, but she would be more so if we got a deeper peek into the cause of her motiveless malignity--the plight all geisha share. Still, Golden has won the triple crown of fiction: he has created a plausible female protagonist in a vivid, now-vanished world, and he gloriously captures Japanese culture by expressing his thoughts in authentic Eastern metaphors. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

 

[Avant Garde]

Thank you love my boots. The world of geishas are so intriging. They arent prositutes, but they arent totally innocent, they are dancers, but there isnt much we know about them. Very, very interesting. The book also sounds amazing

 

[Zen]

My god....Gong Li is so beautiful!!! Not just beautiful but a classic
beauty!!! I loved her in Raise the Red Lantern.... I can't wait

to see her in Memoirs of a Geisha......

 

[Boluda]

^But Americans portray Russians, Spanish, British, French, etc. all the time. I don't see the point. Are the French throwing tantrums because Kristen Dunst is playing Marie Antoinette? No.

ya and that just as wrong.

i cringe when i see sienna miller and that guy playing italians in Casanova. or an American actor playing Napoleon Bonaparte, etc. or worse of all: Brad Pitt playing Troy.

i think these movie adaptations - historical epics most of the time - should stay as TRUE to life/the book as possible. its a simple question of credibility.

 

[LoveMyBoots]

ech i saw the trailer for this... it looks like the sets and the costumes will be interesting, but not too sure about how the plot will turn out. the trailer was TERRIBLE though

I had the same inital reaction when I saw it on my computer- to get the full effect, you have to watch it on the big screen.

 

[sw33tricecakes]

Gosh! Enough debate over the chinese/japanese thing. I'm Korean too and I can see the differences between the two races, but Memoirs of a Geisha was made for the purpose of entertainment and fantasy and as long as Zhang Ziyi can make me believe she is Nitta Sayuri, I honestly don't mind. Sorry, just needed to rant

Lovemyboots, did you already see the movie?

 

[softgrey]

if anyone would like to know more about geishas...
we have an excellent thread in the trendspotting forum...

...