Memoirs of a Geisha
 

Excuse my spelling. How accurate is Kyoto represnted in this movie? What is your opinion of Chinese actors playing a Japanese Geisha?

Haven't watched it, but I don't have problem with causacians as Cio-Cio-San in Madam Butterfly, or Hong Kong actors in "Initial D". So I don't think I'd have problem with Zhang Ziyi as a geisha.

I loved Zhang in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and thinks she is pretty hot :)
Aloha!

Americans play euopeans all the time in films and on stage. What's the difference? And American African American actors play characters living in Africa.

Memoirs was a great book-I'm looking forward to the film
There was a lot of controversy, as the inital poster suggests, about using chinese actors rather than japanese

http://movie-reviews.colossus.net/master.html

Just saw the movie and it was pretty good but most of the female parts were played by Chinese actresses and I found this rather distracting. I kept thinking there must be talented Japanese actresses who could have filled those roles.

Certain scenes, particularly the dances, were beautifully filmed (no surprise since the movie was directed by Rob Marshall). Haven't been to Kyoto so I can't comment on how accurate it is though.

ht, didn't know you were a kung fu fan. movie was so so. dw loved it.

My husband and I saw it in preparation for our trip to Kyoto. I did find it bothersome that the actors were so much Chinese. It was noticeable and distracting. The story, directing and music ahhhhh, was beautifully done!

I have heard on another forum and in reviews I read that most of the scenery is not real - it was shot on backlot reproductions. I saw the previews, and this seemed so hard to believe, as although the previews go fast, it all looked so real. Certainly the temple shots like Kiyomizudera, must be real.

Anyway, I have decided that although I have been to Kyoto, I will not see it with my daughter, who I am taking to Kyoto for the first time in April. I want her to be awed and surprised like I was the first time. And if we catch the sakura, well, I am not looking at any more sakura pictures as I want to see it first-hand...

Emd, you are correct about most of the scenes shot in US. The Temple shot is real and you can tell it. The movie is also filmed in so much darkness and rain. It made us feel more excited about traveling to Kyoto. Of course, we are reading all the books recommended on this talk board.

I loved the book and definitely enjoyed the movie. The set might not have been real, but it did look like Japan. In the street scenes, the buildings and streets looked right, as did the curved bridges and the gardens. There was a view of the rooftops of Kyoto that looked authentic, just like the view from the Gion Hotel today.

Glad that I learned from this thread, before seeing the movie, that the actor playing Sayuri was not Japanese, so I was prepared. Otherwise I might have been totally distracted. She is a beautiful woman and was breathtaking as a geisha.

That is, in Kyoto Gion today there are many buildings of traditional old-style Japanese design. The view in the movie reminded me of the real thing. I thought that the near view of the shot might have been real but that it might have been digitally altered to remove the modern stuff in the distance.

I have read the book some years ago and I am torn between wanting to go see the movie, and holding back because the lead actresses are Chinese which might be a distraction as some have posted. I think the director hired the Chinese actresses not because they were able to act and speak English as he claims, but because of their familiarity with the viewing audience in past hit movies (go with the sure bet rather than take a chance on unknowns). Part of the controversy is over the war tensions between China and Japan from past history. Ordinarily I wouldn't care if actors played roles of different ethnicities, but the role of a geisha is such a deep rooted cultural icon that it is a distraction, IMO.

It really is well done. She is wonderful. You should see it.

mrwunrfl--I always respect your opinions so I will go. I just have to convince my husband that he has to take me. He's looking at the title and thinking "chick flick."

I went to see the movie today and glad I did. I wasn't distracted at all by the fact that the main actresses were Chinese. I thought they all did a great job, especially performing the dancing so well. My main problem was remembering how accurate it remained from the book as it has been several years since I read it. Did anyone notice if the main storyline wavered from the novel? I wish they had shown more kimono and more emphasis on the importance of the kimono.

I read in an interview with the director that they shot on a lot in the US because they couldn't find a location in Japan that looked as Kyoto would have done historically when the book is set. He also justified his use of Chinese actors for the reasons above - part I recall due to box office appeal and part due to not finding Japanese actresses right for the part (although he said he did look - I think though that the first reason is the main one, as Lia says there must be talented Japanese actors who could have played these parts). I also understood from the article that the Japanese were, in general, not particularly bothered by the use of Chinese actors. the article seemed to suggest that the book was not a great hit in Japan and the studio is not expecting the film to be either. However, in China the actors have been much criticised for playing Japanese and called traitors.

Saw the movie yesterday and loved it. The photography and acting regardless of nationality of the actors were very good in my opinion. I had read "Memoirs of a Geisha" about 5 years ago and can not say how closely the movie followed the book. I want to reread it and compare,but I remembered how much I enjoyed the book and heard not too long afterwards it was going to be made into a movie.

Ok, that seals it, I am going to see it today. But without my daughter.