Geisha

[Takeo Saeki]

Hmm, I actually liked the book lol. I was a bit confused when I had read at the beginning that it was suppose to be based on a woman's real life, then read at the end how it was fiction. The Geisha that sued him supposedly came out with her own book on it.

She did? Where can I find it?

[nikonikoniko]

Geisha: A Life

[Mukade]

They did screen the movie in China, and the response was 1/2 "ha ha! we Chinese have (partially) taken over a film about Japan!" and 1/2 "that's so demeaning - a Chinese woman playing the role of a glorified Japanese prostitute!"

Ultimately, I don't think it really matters what nationality the person is - they found a great actress to play the role, and that's enough. I mean, it's a dramatic adaptation of a work of fiction. I don't understand all this purist crap that gets raised at times like these. The point isn't that this person is Japanese or Chinese or even Martian, what's at stake is her (the character's) life story and the romances and tragedies she experiences.

Those are issues applicable to all people.

If this was a documentary, I could understand the griping, but this is a work of art (yes, Tony, I know that precise terminology is arguable - my point stands). You should be judging whether it's a good film based on its artistic merits, and judging the actress based on her acting abilities, not on whether or not she's truly Japanese/Chinese/Christian/Jewish/Gay/Straight/Married/A Mother/A Lawyer/Etc.

She's an actress - of course she's not what she's pretending to be. That's the point!

[keatonatron]

HOW MANY times do British/American/Australian/French/German/Russian actors/actresses play roles of another nationality? Do people get upset when that happens?

And although Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans do look different, there is ALWAYS an exception--i.e. someone who's parents came from another country, or whose genes just happen to retain features passed down from their distant ancestors who came from another place.

Japan was largely conquered by the Koreans way back in ancient times. The Japan conquered much of Korea, and even parts of China. There's been so much pushing back and forth between Japan, China, and Korea, of course people's genes get sloshed around everywhere. Do you really think back when Japan controlled a large part of Korea no Japanese people married Koreans and took them back to Japan? The point is, even though the actress was Chinese, they could have chosen a full-blooded Japanese person that looks just as Chinese, if not more so, than the actress they chose and you wouldn't get angry about it.

[kiyoko-san]

^.^

i think the japanese world is amazing and i love evry bit of being in it but in a perception disagreement ....every one sees something differant or else we would all apeal to the same thing .....i think it would be amazing to be a real life geisha!!!!! a true dream! lolz

[burstandbloom]

I saw it, sort of..I didn't finish it. But at any rate Ken Watanabe did a really good job acting.
I really like him, I think this was like only his second movie he spoke English in.
I think he's filming for the movie Red Sun, Black Sand a movie about Iwa Jima through the persepctive of the Japanese who fought it. I'm excited for that.

[keatonatron]

kiyoko-san wrote:
.....i think it would be amazing to be a real life geisha!!!!! a true dream! lolz

Eh.... You do know that for a long time geisha were just prostitutes, don't you? You might want to be a bit more specific

Watch some classic Japanese cinema and you'll see that being a geisha (in the time of the ruling merchant class) wasn't that great.

[opsidol]

I reckon this film was terrible. I could hardly finish.

Another thing, it is really annoying watching films were the actors don't speak English very well. I would have sounded a lot more natural and been more convincing to watch if it were subtitled.

[giles]

I saw the film hoping to hear some Japanese - well obviously I was totally disappointed in that. I though it looked quite beautiful, though I came away wondering how accurate a representation it was. It did seem strange that the younger women didn't look at all Japanese. I thought the performances of the older actors, men and women, were good.

My Japanese teacher, who is Japanese, in her 20s, enjoyed it a lot, which is interesting. People go to see a film for different reasons, so I suppose if you're not bothered about historical accuracy and just want to experience a story, then this film will be okay for you. But it seems a pity that it could easily have been made more accurate without impacting on the budget/profit of the film. It's from a kind of intellectual laziness or arrogance.

I'd be interested to see a Japanese film made on the same subject. Does anyone have any recommendations?

[taku]

that one was one of the worst films ive ever seen!!!!
its full of mistakes about the geishas life!!!
ive you havent seen it yet, please dont do it:D

[Myuka]

AJBryant wrote:
It's a load of crap. Don't waste your time.


Tony

What the hell??? That was an awesome book.

[Sumi]

I have the movie on DVD. I loved the book and I loved the movie. It wasn't a documentary or anything. It was just basically the life of a former geisha.

[AJBryant]

It was a very cliched, stereotyped, massively BOGUSified life of a geisha. Badly acted, badly written, and very poorly presented. Did no one tell the writer of the score that Chinese music is not the same as Japanese? And could they not get actresses who could at least pronounce Japanese words and names without embarrassing themselves?


Tony

[kuroi]

I enjoyed the book up until I got told it was a fiction..
... spoiled the experience. But then made you think, this is the life of a Geisha through Western eyes.. xD

Spoilt the whole book, if you ask me.

The movie, I found it entertaining. It was a good watch, not deadly accurate but overall, it was a beautiful movie. (Kept me sitting still for the whole length of the movie, achievement!)

[Infidel]

It's not the life of the Geisha through Western eyes. It's fiction.