Question:
HONG KONG - Ken Watanabe, the Japanese star of Memoirs of a Geisha, is defending the casting of Chinese actresses for the film's main roles, saying talent is the most important consideration.
The English-language movie has inflamed historical tensions between Japan and China, with critics saying a movie about Japanese culture should have a Japanese actress in the lead.
But Watanabe, who plays a businessman in Memoirs, likened the casting choices to using non-Italian singers in an Italian opera.
Talent is the most important thing. A beautiful soprano. A wonderful tenor. Not your nationality, Watanabe says in the February edition of the magazine Prestige Hong Kong.
The 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.
The filmmakers have said casting was an exhaustive, meticulous process that considered acting ability, star power and physical traits.
Watanabe received an Oscar nomination in 2004 for his role in The Last Samurai opposite Tom Cruise.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060128/ap_on_...people_watanabe
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He said it right...
And even more after all since it's a movie in english.
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It's not the actresses I had a problem with, it's the accent. Seriously what the i can't read? It was so bad I had to read the Japanese subtitles at times, and let's face it Japanese people in early 1900s did not speak English in a thick retarded Asian accent, would it be so bad to just have them speak in fluent English instead of training them for 3 months to speak in that accent? The length that some people will go to make things authentic (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif)
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^last samurai anyone?? XD
I prefer them speaking in Japanese and have subtitles, but then again, everyones gonna argue this book is written by an American author...
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he is so right, i agree with him
it's about the talent of acting or the skill to portray the character...........it doesn't matter where they come from
does their accents sound that bad?
they had to make it sound fobby since it's like a second language to the japanese
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they had to make it sound fobby since it's like a second language to the japanese
Why should it sound fobby? Did Japanese people speak in accented English to each other in the early 1900s? They should have either made them speak in regular English or regular Japanese (might be hard for some of the actors)
Anyways the movie was really bad compared to the book (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif) If I didn't read the book first I might not have understood the plot of the movie..
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It's not the actresses I had a problem with, it's the accent. Seriously what the i can't read? It was so bad I had to read the Japanese subtitles at times, and let's face it Japanese people in early 1900s did not speak English in a thick retarded Asian accent, would it be so bad to just have them speak in fluent English instead of training them for 3 months to speak in that accent? The length that some people will go to make things authentic (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif)
LOL. i had no idea that they were trained to speak in that accent. arr, it was *so* annoying. i couldn't understand what they were saying at times. and i really wanted to punch pumpkin in the face.
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Why should it sound fobby? Did Japanese people speak in accented English to each other in the early 1900s? They should have either made them speak in regular English or regular Japanese (might be hard for some of the actors)
Anyways the movie was really bad compared to the book (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif) If I didn't read the book first I might not have understood the plot of the movie..
uhhh i think that was their natural accent =P
no body in that movie could speak perfect english perfectly
they ALL had an accent.. whether they were japanese or chinese.. even if they were asked to speak english during a interview.. i'm pretty sure that's how most would sound
i'm practically sure english to them all is a second language.. it's not like they all grew up in a place where english is the dominant language and they HAD to learn to speak with a asian accent..
and the english wasn't so bad.. i understood it =P
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uhhh i think that was their natural accent =P
no body in that movie could speak perfect english perfectly
they ALL had an accent.. whether they were japanese or chinese.. even if they were asked to speak english during a interview.. i'm pretty sure that's how most would sound
i'm practically sure english to them all is a second language.. it's not like they all grew up in a place where english is the dominant language and they HAD to learn to speak with a asian accent..
and the english wasn't so bad.. i understood it =P
That was not their natural accent, anyone who has heard a modern Japanese accent will know this.
http://news.scotsman.com/features.cfm?id=2458612005
The filmmakers had to pick a distinct dialect in which the movie would be performed, lest it resemble a UN cocktail party. They ultimately settled on a lightly Japanese-accented English, a choice that proved difficult for several Asian actors and required some hi-tech editing tricks to polish.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artic...230391/1032/ENT
The film's third featured actress, however, was right at home -- except for, maybe, the slight Japanese accent everyone was trained to speak with.
https://silverchips.mbhs.edu/inside.php?sid=6034
All of the actors were trained to carry the same, traditional Japanese accent and they were all lectured about Japanese culture
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God...the movie was sooo retarded. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sleep.gif) Tamago had it right when he was talking about the accents? The book was sooo much better. I'm totally disappointed.
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The only think I liked about the movie was pumpkin.
Not that I liked the book to begin with.
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harharhar yeah; the book was written by an american author
screened with chinese actors/actresses with lightly Japaneses-accented English.
a bit weird i s'ppose
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I liked the movie and I like zhang zi yi except for the fact that she can't speak english. I spent most of the time trying to figure out what she was trying to say instead of what was going on in the scene.
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i read somewhere these girls were picked because their english improved the most. Some of these main cast memebrs didnt speak a lick of english and learned it all in 6 friggan months.
PLus it's overblown. It's not about the movie and casting, it's about the history of japan and china.
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it wasn't just the casting that people disliked... it was the whole movie... it's so weird how they all speak english in the movie [it's not even like they're fluent no offense]... japanese with english subtitles seems more reasonable to me.
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The filmmakers have said casting was an exhaustive, meticulous process that considered acting ability, star power and physical traits.
if anything... it seems like star power had the most consideration. i'm sorry... but zhang zi-yi isn't the most talented, or most beautiful chinese actress out there... why not find an actress (regardless of japanese or chinese ancestry) that already spoke English fluently?
