Memories of a Geisha

Any Zhang Ziyi fans here?

http://www.helloziyi.us/Movies/memoirs-of-a-geisha.htm

http://ziyiforever.primenova.com/index.html

http://csc.ziyi.org/filmography/memoirs/

Yes. Young, beautiful and smart... sounds good to me.

Youshen

Any Zhang Ziyi fans here?

I only like her when she gets mad.

First was Tom Cruise - the white last Samurai,

Now Geisha played by chinese actress, not one but three, Zhangziyi, Gongli and Michelle Yoeh.

Yeah... I kinda feel awkward seeing Chinese actresses playing roles of Geishas...

But many people in America will have no idea! Haha...

But anyway... When I saw the trailer last night, I was VERY surprised to see her speaking in English! A few years ago, she couldn't say much, and was only speaking in Chinese! Good for her!

But I don't understand why she "changed" her name from Zhang Ziyi to Ziyi Zhang... I read that in an article somewhere... Does anyone agree with that?

I don't call her Ziyi Zhang... it's too strange... So I just call her Zhang Ziyi!

Actually I think not only the Japanese actresses are jealous, but so are the Asian American actrsses.

Lucy Liu and Kelly Hu may think they are more suitable candidates than Zhang/Gong/Yeoh in this movie.

I think that Zhang Ziyi is well suited for the role given her training as a dancer.

I loved the book and am really looking forward to seeing this movie. However, please don't think it is an accurate portrayal of the life of a geisha. It is just a wonderful work of fiction.

If you really want to know about what it means to be a geisha I suggest you read:

Geisha of Gion by Mineko Iwasaki

and

Geisha by Liza Dalby

I wish there is one 'Memoir of an opera actor' movie.

Rottentomatoes does not give high tomato rating though -- 43% (but just only got 7 critique -- too early to tell):

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/memoirs_of_a_geisha/

Um, the last Samurai is Ken Watanabe, not Tom Cruise.

If Kirk Douglas can play Spartacus, why can't Zhang Ziyi be a geisha?

I like Watanabe in the last samurai, especially the way he carries two swords ... and he looks good in this film too ...

Many people in China are outraged at Zhang Ziyi playing a geisha. Many in China and Japan are unhappy that Chinese actors are assigned the primary roles in the movie, while Japanese actors are relegated to secondary roles.

http://movies.yahoo.com/mv/news/va/20051128/113318596000.html

"

A dream team of movie stars from China and Japan gathered in Tokyo on Monday to promote "Memoirs of a Geisha," the first big-budget Hollywood romance to feature an almost entirely Asian cast.

But a day ahead of the world premiere, some in Japan were wondering why homegrown talent was shut out of the leading roles in a film that celebrates Japan's unique culture.

Harsher comments have come from China, where bitter feelings over Japan's 1931-45 occupation of parts of the country make the idea of Chinese playing geisha unacceptable to some....

"Memoirs," reported to have cost its makers $85 million, can ill afford to alienate moviegoers in Japan, the second biggest market for Hollywood films.

But some have already expressed anger at what they see as a cavalier attitude to the subtleties of traditional costume and dance in a movie largely shot on a specially built set in California.

"According to this film, 'geisha' dance in a bizarre fashion, as if they were in a Los Angeles strip show," one Japanese film fan complained on a Web log, or blog, adding that the lights and special effects were more reminiscent of modern Las Vegas than old Kyoto.

"We should boycott this film and send a clear message to Hollywood. Why on earth have they made a film making fun of the Japanese, when they cannot get by without us?" the blog continued.

Chinese bloggers were outraged.

"She's sold her soul and betrayed her country. Hacking her to death would not be good enough," China's state media quoted one blogger as saying of Zhang.

Dressed in an off-white cocktail dress with her hair piled high, Zhang told a packed news conference she saw the film as a step forward for Asian actors.

"I am really grateful to Rob Marshall for giving us this incredible chance to show the whole world Asian actors' ability," she said on Monday. "We can do so much more than people think."....

Japan has a record of accepting Hollywood versions of itself without complaint. Industry reports said "The Last Samurai" (2003), starring Tom Cruise and set in 19th century Japan, grossed more in Japan than in the United States.

"Memoirs of a Geisha" caused controversy in Japan long before it became a movie.

Mineko Iwasaki, the main inspiration for Arthur Golden's book, sued the author for failing to maintain her privacy, after he described such practices as "mizuage" or the selling of a young geisha's virginity to the highest bidder, which she has been reported as saying does not exist. "

why in China, the movie name is Memories of a Geisha but actually is: Memoirs of a Geisha, and the chinese name is also wrong.

Well I am going to see this film tomorrow (in Hong Kong）and my ticket says "Memoirs of a Geisha" 藝伎回憶錄.

Memoirs of a Geisha

章子怡 / Zhāng Zǐyí

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ziyi_Zhang

巩俐 (鞏俐)/ Gǒng Lì

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li_Gong

Michelle Yeoh Choo-Kheng

杨紫琼 (楊紫瓊) / Yáng Zǐqióng

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelle_Yeoh

----

Watanabe Ken (Japanese: 渡辺謙) (Sorry no picture)

---

In Japanese Geisha is written as 芸者, is it 艺伎 (藝伎) - yìjì in Chinese?

I found a different Chinese spelling: 艺妓 (藝妓) Yìjì

妓 [jì] (娼妓 chāngjì) prostitute

LiYuanXi said:

" I wish there is one 'Memoir of an opera actor' movie. "

What, you mean like, Farewell My Concubine?

First was Tom Cruise - the white last Samurai,

So, shouldn't Nicole Kidman have played "The Last Geisha" here? I think that would have been far more fitting!

Especially since I heard Geisha started out as Asian women in Whiteface imitation of Western women...similar to the origin of footbinding as the imitation of Western proto-ballet troupes by elite Tang Dynasty Chinese courtesans.

Tang court women followed Persian and Turkish fashions, wearing dresses with tight-fitting bodices, pleated skirts, and hats with enormous veils. And it was apparently imitation of foreign toe-dancing groups that originally led upper-class Chinese women to bind their feet. At first it was just palace dancers who bound their feet slightly, like ballet dancers, to stand on their toes. - When China Ruled the Seas: The Treasure Fleet of the Dragon Throne, 1405-1433 by Louise Levathes

I think the casting probably had something to do with known names. Many Americans have heard of Zhang Ziyi and Michelle Yeoh, but can't think of one Japanese actress's name.

I think Kelly Hue's acting ability is like someone studying a foreign language for a few weeks. That is, she sounds fine for a couple of words or a short sentence, but longer then that seems a bit lost.

Perhaps Lucy Liu has been typecast as an action only star and needs have a few non-action roles before the public would accept seeing her in a major film like Memoirs of a Geisha?

I personally don't see what the big deal is for a Chinese to portray a Japanese or vice versa. It's common for caucasians to play someone from another country. Heath Ledger, an Australian is getting rave reviews for his role as a gay American cowboy in Brokeback Mountain. Nicole Kidman and Jude Law, an Aussie and a Brit, played two American Southerns during the US civil war.

The hostility caused by the atrocities of WW2 needs to end. Hating someone because of the sins of their grandfathers is so wasteful.

Interesting to see reactions from chinese and japanese people about the movie

Being a westerner, I don't understand the problem of a chinese actress playing a very traditional japanese role. However, I understand that there may be tensions between these two cultures (but you are not the only ones!)

Also, I cannot say at which points the movie was realistic or not.

I saw the movie last week in Athens and I liked it a lot.

So, I am not really interested in wether Geishas are really allowed to sell their virginity. I am more interested in seeing these foreign places with their customs, their traditional clothes, the beatiful actresses (whom I know from other movies), etc.

We, here in Greece, love to see quality chinese movies.

Show us more. Show us your beatiful culture and people.