I searched, but didn't find, Memoir of a Geisha thread

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Not terrible, not brilliant. But something wrong... somewhere... somehow...

Culturally inappropriate geisha accents? Flash Dance floorshows? Manolo Blahnik platform shoes? I'm not sure what...but something.

Then there’s the problem that the lead geishas mostly have thick Chinese accents. Everybody has problems chewing the leaden dialog. But everybody’s pretty—even the hideously-deformed-in-an-incredible-Hulk-sort-of-way Nobu. Hey—wait a minute—are you the Nobu? Sushi Nobu? Malibu-London-New York Nobu? OMG!

― EComplex (EComplex), Thursday, 1 December 2005 05:21 (nineteen years ago)

The book is ridiculous. The movie looks ridiculous.

― Super Cub (Debito), Thursday, 1 December 2005 05:28 (nineteen years ago)

yes.

― s1ocki (slutsky), Thursday, 1 December 2005 05:38 (nineteen years ago)

Rob Marshall’s otherwise tepid “Memoirs of a Geisha” contains one timeless camp moment, when Gong Li, playing an aging geisha, slaps around her younger rival (Ziyi Zhang, the former Zhang Ziyi) while shrieking, in classic Dragon Lady style, “I will destroy you!” Faye Dunaway couldn’t have done it better, although she probably wouldn’t have had to play the part phonetically, as most of the actors seem to be doing here. The primary victim is the gifted Koji Yakusho, who has done marvelous work for Shohei Imamura (“The Eel,” “Warm Water under a Red Bridge”), Kiyoshi Kurosawa (“Cure,” “Doppelganger”) and Shinji Aoyama (“Eureka”), but barely registers in this muddle as the undesirable, Ralph Bellamy-like suitor pursuing Zhang (whose character is really in love with Ken Watanabe from “The Last Samurai”).

Shohei Imamura’s version of “Memoirs of a Geisha” would have been something to see, but of course, Sony Pictures Entertainment (a Japanese company, I believe) would not for one minute have considered entrusting this Japanese subject to a Japanese filmmaker – certainly not when the director of “Chicago” was available. At first it seems bizarre that this Japanese story has been cast with Chinese actresses (Li and Zhang are joined by the vivacious Hong Kong action star Michelle Yeoh). But as the film wanders from one extravagantly art-directed moment to the next, it becomes apparent that the model the filmmakers had it mind was not Japanese at all, but an exercise in “la nouvelle qualité chinoise” (as Claude Chabrol recently described this lush, exportable style) as represented by Zhang Yimou, who launched both Li and Zhang (in “Ju Dou” and “The Road Home,” respectively) and whose “Raise the Red Lantern” Marshall clearly screened more than once.

i adore z.z. but this looks like crap.

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Thursday, 1 December 2005 08:00 (nineteen years ago)

see "princess raccoon" instead

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Thursday, 1 December 2005 08:04 (nineteen years ago)

The book is ridiculous.

How so? I have never read it.

― Nathalie (stevie nixed), Thursday, 1 December 2005 09:05 (nineteen years ago)

I really really enjoyed the book. I made a mistake of loaning my copy to a temp who never came back and spent a year regretting it. A few weeks ago I spotted it in a charity shop and bought it for £1.25. I am pleased.

― Rumpie (lil drummer girl parumpumpumpu), Thursday, 1 December 2005 09:37 (nineteen years ago)

I totally share the sentiment above. Probably 1% of America will register the fact that this is movie about Japan filled with Chinese actresses. We get what we deserve, I guess.

― Mitya (mitya), Thursday, 1 December 2005 18:59 (nineteen years ago)

amat(eur)ist otm.

― k/l (Ken L), Thursday, 1 December 2005 19:06 (nineteen years ago)

"Probably 1% of America will register the fact that this is movie about Japan filled with Chinese actresses."

This is one of the many laughable things about the preview.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Thursday, 1 December 2005 19:09 (nineteen years ago)

The book isn't bad, I enjoyed it. However, this...movie...looks...bad.

― Allyzay must fight Zolton herself. (allyzay), Thursday, 1 December 2005 19:13 (nineteen years ago)

I hate the Japs as much as any other Chinesee, but the mainland's reaction to Zhang tupping with a Japanese fellow is the crazy stupid.

― Keep the juices flowing by jangling around gentleee as you move (Leee), Thursday, 1 December 2005 19:59 (nineteen years ago)

Dave Kehr's blog became the most cited blog in the world in, like, three days. Which is great.

― C0L1N B... (C0L1N B...), Thursday, 1 December 2005 22:56 (nineteen years ago)

Oprah liked it. A lot.

― rrrobyn (rrrobyn), Thursday, 1 December 2005 23:14 (nineteen years ago)

"American moviegoers aren't terribly keen on subtitles, but in truth that wasn't the sole reason that [director Rob] Marshall filmed only the opening segment with Japanese dialogue. Had the actors performed the entire movie in the language, the director says, 'I never would have known what they were saying.'"

― monkeybutler, Thursday, 1 December 2005 23:58 (nineteen years ago)

"Probably 1% of America will register the fact that this is movie about Japan filled with Chinese actresses."

I think that's a good thing. It's all people seem to be focusing on in Japan.

The key word here is "actresses". They're acting, and sometimes that involves pretending to be something that you're actually not. Nobody gets upset when Michael J. Fox, Kim Cattrall or Jim Carrey play Americans - so I can't understand what all the fuss here is about.

― J-rock (Julien Sandiford), Friday, 2 December 2005 01:43 (nineteen years ago)

Well, the fact that there exist national ethnicities in the cases of Japan and China is a starting point.

― Keep the juices flowing by jangling around gentleee as you move (Leee), Friday, 2 December 2005 02:01 (nineteen years ago)

*ahem*

ittp://images.heritagecoin.com/images/HNAI/75/55081/55081010013o.jpg

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Friday, 2 December 2005 02:04 (nineteen years ago)

Katherine Hepburn playing a Japanese maiden in Dragon Seed

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/51/Katharinehepburnds.jpg

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Friday, 2 December 2005 02:05 (nineteen years ago)

I'm not trying to say that there aren't differences, but for the most part, the people of Northeast Asia are physically similar enough to make this work. Thai actresses, for example, would not be able to pull this off. If the dialogue was all in Japanese, then I would agree with casting all Japanese actresses - but it's not, so I really don't see what the big deal is.

― J-rock (Julien Sandiford), Friday, 2 December 2005 02:18 (nineteen years ago)

http://www.artghost.com/lizart/drawings/geisha.jpg

― Super Cub (Debito), Friday, 2 December 2005 03:35 (nineteen years ago)

http://static.flickr.com/22/26187336_46e7200ccd_m.jpg

― Super Cub (Debito), Friday, 2 December 2005 03:37 (nineteen years ago)

http://www.snowball.org.uk/illustrations/geisha.gif

― Super Cub (Debito), Friday, 2 December 2005 03:38 (nineteen years ago)

the only criteria I can judge this movie on is prettiness. are the gurlz pretty enough to sit through the whole thing?

― kyle (akmonday), Friday, 2 December 2005 03:38 (nineteen years ago)

http://somervillenews.typepad.com/the_somerville_news/Brian-Geisha-Publicity-thumb.jpg

― Super Cub (Debito), Friday, 2 December 2005 03:39 (nineteen years ago)

ihttp://royshort.com/images/Duke/BARBARIAN%20AND%20THE%20GEISHA.JPG

― Super Cub (Debito), Friday, 2 December 2005 03:40 (nineteen years ago)

ihttp://www.italiansoundtracks.com/images/400/usabarbarian.gif

― Super Cub (Debito), Friday, 2 December 2005 03:43 (nineteen years ago)

does anyone else find it sort of creepy that fresh has a whole makeup line based on this movie?

― maura (maura), Friday, 2 December 2005 03:44 (nineteen years ago)

dave kehr has a blog!!! this is the best news i've had all week!

― J.D. (Justyn Dillingham), Friday, 2 December 2005 05:22 (nineteen years ago)

does anyone else find it sort of creepy that fresh has a whole makeup line based on this movie?

yeesh!

kehr is right i think in suggesting that this film takes the latent neo-orientalism of zhang yimou's films up a notch.

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Friday, 2 December 2005 05:34 (nineteen years ago)

li gong is the closest thing we have these days to ingrid bergman.
she hasnt been needed in a while, and the nascent racism of the west wont let someone non european into their cinema...

and kehr is an idiot up there being pissy about ZZ's name...

this looks bad

― anthony easton (anthony), Friday, 2 December 2005 06:11 (nineteen years ago)

Obv. acting means (frequently) playing a part outside the actor's personal experience. But it's wrong to say that we don't get worked up with Michael J. Fox or Kim Cattrell playing Americans. Well, that's not wrong...what's wrong is saying we don't notice when a European with a thick non-American accent plays American and nobody in the film is supposed to notice. Chinese accent, Japanese accent, what's the difference?...well...linguistically the same difference as between an German accent and a Chinese accent. They're utterly unrelated and it sticks out. Even if both countries are in Asia and the people look similar to Westerners. But I don't mind it really. More annoying is the comic book nature of the film.

But the women are beautiful.

― EComplex (EComplex), Friday, 2 December 2005 06:35 (nineteen years ago)

and kehr is an idiot up there being pissy about ZZ's name...

i didn't see him being pissy, just noting that she wants to be referred to in the press as "ziyi zhang" (probably so people don't think her given name is zhang)

when a European with a thick non-American accent plays American and nobody in the film is supposed to notice.

i have trouble w/schwarzenegger films for this reason

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Friday, 2 December 2005 06:49 (nineteen years ago)

The thing is that people in Japan don't speak English anyway, so the very fact that the dialogue is in English sticks out. I'm not sure that a geisha speaking English with a Japanese accent is any more authentic than one with a Chinese accent. Just buying a ticket to this film will entail a significant suspension of disbelief.

― J-rock (Julien Sandiford), Friday, 2 December 2005 07:43 (nineteen years ago)

six years pass...

Saw it when it came out, watched it again on DVD. I won't try to defend it. Two or three beautiful shots, some very beautiful women, and a great moment when the American G.I. turns out to be Mr. Put the Lotion in the Basket.

― clemenza, Saturday, 20 October 2012 13:31 (twelve years ago)

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