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Spunky
Member
10-08-2001
| Saturday, November 19, 2005 - 1:19 pm
I didn't know they were making a movie and it will come out in December ! I read the book and couldn't wait to see it made into a movie and now voila'! I saw the trailer and they've used the same actresses in Crouching Tiger, and the House of the Flying Daggers... but if I were Japanese I would feel insulted... why choose Chinese people to portray Japanese Geishas, the young actress who has the role in this movie just doesn't have that "pure" Japanese look, she's the 'beautiful Chinese' girl but she's not Japanese! Why would Western directors think that they could fool Japanese viewers... I guess I'll have to go see the movie and ignore the real differences between a Japanese beautiful face and a Chinese beautiful face... and just enjoy the movie.... thinking maybe there were Chinese Geishas...
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Ketchuplover
Member
08-30-2000
| Saturday, November 19, 2005 - 3:55 pm
If you feel strongly about it then don't go.
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Kep421
Member
08-11-2001
| Monday, November 21, 2005 - 9:30 am
How is this any different then scottish actors playing irish characters? Or mexican actors portraying native americans? Sorry... not understanding the insult here... BTW...so looking forward to the movie!!
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Ophiliasgrandma
Member
09-04-2001
| Monday, November 21, 2005 - 9:58 am
I'm with you Kep. After reading Spunky's note I got to thinking about what Laurance Olivier said, 'It's called acting'. Gweneth Paltrow certainly isn't British, but she managed to win a best actress Oscar by faking that she was. Also, Charlize Theron is not by any stretch a lesbian, but also won a best actress Oscar by playing one. Now, I must admit it was stretching it waaaay too far when Marlon Brando played a Japanese man in Teahouse Of The August Moon. Acting didn't help there at all. LOL
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Auntiemike
Member
09-17-2001
| Monday, November 21, 2005 - 11:17 am
Maybe Spunky is reacting to the "They all look alike" syndrome people have about Asians. There are definite differences and maybe there could be some sensitivity to that. (that's why I like watching "Lost". Korean actors playing Korean characters....and, they are still good actors!)
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Juju2bigdog
Member
10-27-2000
| Monday, November 21, 2005 - 1:13 pm
I was watching a Korean soap opera in a beauty salon in Vietnam, and I swear one of the actresses looked just like Sun on Lost, but the other Americans in there told me it was not the same actress. Not that that is apropos of anything in this thread ... LOL
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Eeyoreslament
Member
07-20-2003
| Monday, November 21, 2005 - 5:40 pm
What about Peter Sellers playing a middle-eastern man in The Party!! LOL Birdie-num-num!!
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Aahlife
Member
08-06-2005
| Monday, December 05, 2005 - 8:33 am
whoa. such a strong negative reaction to spunky's thoughtful comments. this is an issue that is getting more public - it is widely discussed in the theatre world, which i am involved with. it is predicted someday this current practice in the movies will someday be come to be seen as offensive as blackface which as you all know used to be commonplace.
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Mocha
Member
08-12-2001
| Monday, December 05, 2005 - 8:37 am
Same thing as Elizabeth Taylor playing Cleopatra.
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Babyjaxmom
Member
10-20-2002
| Monday, December 05, 2005 - 12:12 pm
I see your point, Spunky. You're not the only one to raise this question (re: Chinese actors playing Japanese women). It's been widely reported in the press also. Just something to think about . . .
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Brenda1966
Member
07-03-2002
| Monday, December 05, 2005 - 12:43 pm
I saw a very brief interview with the filmmaker about this issue. He said he also recieved a lot of grief after he cast Queen Latifa in Chicago, with people saying a black woman would not be in that position of authority during those years. His response: it's about finding the best person to bring the role to life.
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Mameblanche
Member
04-13-2005
| Tuesday, December 06, 2005 - 4:02 pm
I'm sitting on the fence here. 1) When Vannessa Redgrave played a concentration camp survivor in a film, AFTER making her feelings known at the OSCARS, I was furious. Especially since the woman she portrayed was still alive and was herself vigorously protesting this casting 'coup'. But I was told... she's one of the finest actresses, its all about the acting. Get over it. Well. She is a fine actress. So are a million others. The woman was still alive. If they were really moved by her story, and respected her suffering, seems to me, they would have made another choice. But they didn't. (Shrug) 2) So here we are, years later, and I could say, and sometimes do, that its about the acting. We do give awards to perfectly healthy actors who portray handicapped people, when I'm sure there are lots of physically challenged people who are talented out begging for jobs. But hey. Its about the acting. (shrug.) 3) So... here we have a situation where they could have made a STAR out of a Japanese actress. I have no idea who, but I'm sure there are hundreds of them in Japan! But no, they decided to go with a famous Chinese actress, ignorantly thinking its all the same. Which any rational person would agree its not. Frankly I'm betting that the Chinese community isn't thrilled with this either... But hey, its all about the acting. (Shrug.) Problem is I do see both sides of this. So before you say it, I will. 'Sucks to be me!' (Shrug.)
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Tishala
Member
08-01-2000
| Tuesday, December 06, 2005 - 4:48 pm
I don't have a problem with them casting Chinese actors for Japanese parts [or Redgrave as a Jew], but I do find the director's comments a bit disingenuous. If it's really about finding the best person to bring the roles to life, why not cast African Americans and whites in the Japanese roles, too? Surely there are many qualified actors who could do that. But the simple fact is that to most Western eyes, Japanese and Chinese people "look alike" and are interchangable. I just hope the film is good, really, and I wish directors and producers wouldn't insult me with some of the hooey they say.
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Mameblanche
Member
04-13-2005
| Tuesday, December 06, 2005 - 5:21 pm
Tish... I'm also really looking forward to seeing the film. But I was thinking that this film was really going to be a big boost for a Japanese actress and other really excellent Japanese performers, and now that opportunity has been blown. (Crouching Tiger introduced us to some amazing Chinese actors... that's my whole point.)
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Spunky
Member
10-08-2001
| Thursday, December 08, 2005 - 7:28 am
Thanks all for your comments. Maybe this article may help explain a bit the reasons for the controversy. I'm a bit sorry for the lead actress as I like her very much but the criticism may affect her popularity. Anyway, I'm going to see the movie as soon as it arrives here, just hope the 'very beautiful Chinese face" won't make me wish too much for a 'beautiful Japanese' face. }Controversy after Chinese actors cast in Japanese roles (AP) - The makers of Memoirs of a Geisha expected to be lauded for creating the first big-budget Hollywood movie with Asian actors in every leading role. Instead, they find themselves defending casting decisions that have inflamed historical tensions between Japan and China. The English-language film is set in Japan and adapted from the American novel. It stars Chinese actresses Ziyi Zhang and Gong Li, and Chinese-Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh. They join several Japanese performers, including Ken Watanabe. For months, the Internet has been filled with vitriolic debate over cultural insensitivity, and Zhang has been denounced in China for her starring role. The arguments boil down to this: A movie about Japanese culture should have a Japanese actress in the lead. The filmmakers, however, thought that would be shortsighted and discriminatory. Producers Douglas Wick (Gladiator) and Lucy Fisher, and director Rob Marshall (Chicago), say the casting was an exhaustive, meticulous process that considered acting ability, star power and physical traits. "Some Japanese actresses didn't even want to audition, because they couldn't speak English and were too afraid to try to take it on," Fisher said. Marshall said that when Zhang auditioned, she immediately established that she deserved to be the star: "Your hope as a director is that someone comes in and claims the role, says 'This is mine."' The debate is somewhat perplexing considering that actors have been playing characters of different nationalities throughout the history of film. "When you saw Zorba the Greek, and you saw Anthony Quinn play Zorba, was that odd to you because he was Irish and Mexican?" Marshall said. "Or when you saw Dr. Zhivago, and you saw Omar Sharif, who's Egyptian-born, play a Russian, was that something that threw you?" Gong said she chooses roles based on substance, not race. "As actors, we seek roles that challenge and inspire us," she said in a statement to The Associated Press. "Think of all the amazing performances that would be lost - Meryl Streep as a Polish woman in Sophie's Choice; Russell Crowe as an American in The Insider; Ralph Fiennes as a German in Schindler's List; Vivien Leigh as an American in Gone With The Wind; Sir Anthony Hopkins as an American president in Nixon," Gong said. But the symbolism in Geisha, set for limited release Friday, is powerful for many Chinese. During Japan's 1937-38 occupation of Nanjing, Japanese troops killed at least 150,000 Chinese civilians and raped tens of thousands of women. Today, there is tension over Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's repeated visits to a shrine that honours some convicted war criminals, as well as the territorial dispute over the Diaoyutai or Senkaku islands. In April, Chinese demonstrators vandalized shops and smashed windows at Japanese diplomatic offices while protesting Japanese textbooks they claim whitewash the country's war atrocities. Just the sight of kimono-clad Chinese actresses could make tempers flare: Chinese actress-singer Zhao Wei is widely reported to have been smeared with human feces after donning a shirt bearing the Japanese military flag. "(Zhang) went out of her way to portray an outlet for Japanese desires. This is a loss of face for the Chinese," said one posting on the Chinese web portal Netease.com. "The Chinese were comfort women during World War II, and they continue to serve Japanese in modern times." Such history has created an Asian climate so sensitive, South Korean actress Kim Yun-jin, best known to Western audiences for her role on TV's Lost, reportedly turned down a role in Geisha for nationalistic reasons. But the American filmmakers had other concerns, like star power and ticket sales. Zhang, Yeoh and Gong are somewhat familiar to American audiences. Zhang and Yeoh co-starred in the box-office hit Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and Zhang has since become the international face of Chinese cinema with roles in Hero, House of Flying Daggers and 2046. Yeoh became the first Asian Bond girl in Tomorrow Never Dies. And Gong gained a devoted cult following thanks to her work in Raise the Red Lantern and Farewell My Concubine. "Obviously, when you make a bigger-budget movie, the more well-known the faces are, the happier the financiers are," Fisher said. But does casting for charisma's sake mean authenticity is sacrificed? Marshall is quick to point out that while he did extensive research into geisha culture, realism was not his chief concern. "I never intended to do this movie as a documentary-style version of the novel," Marshall said. "It really is a fable." Anticipation for the movie remains high in Japan, and it has been cleared by Chinese censors. (China's Film Bureau did not respond to questions from The AP.) "Most of the Japanese audience who attended the premiere of this film had positive reactions," Jay Sakomoto, president of Shochiku Co., Japan's largest movie distributor in Japan, said in a statement. "Ziyi Zhang's portrayal of Sayuri was impeccable, and many people thought she seemed more Japanese than a real Japanese woman."
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Ophiliasgrandma
Member
09-04-2001
| Thursday, December 08, 2005 - 3:42 pm
Thanks, Spunky.
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Vsmart
Member
02-10-2003
| Thursday, December 15, 2005 - 9:55 am
Werner Oland (Swedish) played Charlie Chan. Mickey Rooney played a Japanese man in "Breakfast at Tiffany's". John Wayne as Gengis Khan. Anthony Quinn as an Eskimo in "Top of the World". Michael Rennie as Klaatu in "The Day the Earth Stool Still.
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Darrellh
Member
07-21-2004
| Thursday, December 15, 2005 - 10:29 am
lol on Michael Rennie, Vsmart!
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Mameblanche
Member
04-13-2005
| Thursday, December 15, 2005 - 2:27 pm
Mickey Rooney in Breakfast at Tiffany's is one of the WORST cinematic portrayals of an earthling, never mind an Asian!
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Ketchuplover
Member
08-30-2000
| Friday, December 16, 2005 - 10:19 pm
That Michael Rennie sure was a traffic stopper 
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Jedisan
Member
01-11-2002
| Saturday, December 17, 2005 - 2:53 pm
Don't forget Tony Randall as... Dr. Lao/Merlin/Pan/Abominable Snowman/Medusa/Giant Serpent/Apollonius of Tyana/Audience member... in the 7 Faces of Dr. Lao. talk about range...

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Chewpito
Member
01-04-2004
| Monday, December 26, 2005 - 9:11 pm
Allright, I read the book, and it was one of those kinda books that I just couldnt put down, loved it. I went to the movie today with friends, and I must say, "very disapointed" It was so long and just did not do the book justice. I just hope that people that have not read the book, and go to the movie first, will still give the book a chance,... The movie was so long and drawn out... any one else feel the same??
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Knightpatti
Member
12-06-2001
| Monday, December 26, 2005 - 11:21 pm
My dh wanted to leave during the movie because it was so long. That never happens. I thought about reading the book and thought that it is probably much more interesting. The book probably will answer some questions that I have I really thought the movie would be alot better.
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Chewpito
Member
01-04-2004
| Tuesday, December 27, 2005 - 2:39 pm
oh, do read the book, its wonderfull.
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Konamouse
Member
07-16-2001
| Tuesday, December 27, 2005 - 7:55 pm
I definately want to read the book, because I know that any movie can't include everything. Hubby enjoyed the movie (konashark is confortable with his feminine side when you don't remind him about it). We both wondered how it would have come across if, like Crouching Tiger, all the Japanese dialogue was real and just dubbed on screen (but the Chinese actresses might not have been able to pull that off). 'squeek'
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