Being criticized in the entertainment industry is not necessarily a bad thing, at least it can attract enough attention, and it will inevitably make passers-by known. "Geisha Huiyilu" has received many doubts and oppositions from the beginning of its preparations. First of all, voices from Japan. They don't understand why they hired three Chinese actors to play Japanese geishas. Is it the Japanese themselves? Isn't it more suitable for the national culture? On the other hand, there are also opposing voices from China. Those false reports about the demonization of Zhang Ziyi spread on the Internet are even more shocking. It is not an extreme act of ethnic complex. But all of this will be solved with the test of time and the release of the film.
How are rumors made? Who did it for what purpose? In fact, I don’t think that the fake stills rumored on the Internet have much credibility. The mainstream movies such as "Memoirs of a Geisha" definitely pay attention to the meeting scale to avoid affecting the box office when the movie is rated. Even if those stills are true, it’s not unacceptable for actors to really help Luoshan for a good film. Chen Chong and Wu Junmei, who struggled in Hollywood back then, are far more difficult than Zhang Ziyi now, and the scale of sacrifice is also greater. There are a lot of people, but not many people criticize it. The reason is nothing more than Zhang Ziyi’s rapid rise in popularity and the insoluble political and ethnic complex (interpretation of the mentality: a young actor will forget his roots when he becomes popular, and it’s not easy to act. Acting as a Japanese geisha). In fact, these are not important anymore. Now the film itself should be more worthy of attention. After watching "Memoirs of the Art Club", I can't help but have a comparison. I think the naked erotic scenes in this film are no better than Zhang Ziyi in Zhang Yimou's film. Of more.
Putting aside all prejudices and colored glasses to look at this film, I have to say that this film is similar to "The Last Samurai", and it is also a film that appreciates Eastern culture from a Western perspective. Indeed, we must admit that cultural differences have a gap created by thousands of years. The rapid development of modern science and technology can not easily bring different cultures together. Even China and Japan, which are in the same East, cannot easily understand each other. Culture. "Memoirs of a Geisha" is adapted from the best-selling novel by American writer Arthur Gordon, which means that the film has been branded with Western style in the womb before it was born, not to mention that Japanese audiences cannot accept such labeling of Japanese culture. In Hollywood movies, as a Chinese audience, I also feel the cultural differences. In fact, as the director Rob Marshall, he did not think too much about cultural things. The "Memoirs of a Geisha" he directed was originally intended to be filmed for Western audiences. The film aimed at the tastes of Western audiences, and the purpose was to satisfy Western audience's curiosity about the mysterious Eastern culture. Looking back at the film "The Last Emperor" that won the Oscars that year, although the film is excellent, it is not Chinese. This is the story of Bertolucci's personal destiny, which comes from his mind rather than History, such a story should be Western, but he placed it in the mysterious China, so it can move Western audiences even more. After all, the Eastern story from the Western perspective is still Western. Eastern culture is just an attractive flavoring agent, and the main dish has to be Western-style, otherwise it is afraid that Western audiences will not buy it.
The story of the film tells that Chiyoko, who was from a poor family, was sold to a geisha hall when he was young. He went through all kinds of hardships as a servant. He happened to meet an industrialist man on the bridge and was attracted by his charm, so he decided to do it in the future. Become an outstanding geisha. When she grew up, she finally became an outstanding geisha under the training of Geisha Minho, and she changed her name to Sayuri. But she still couldn't forget the man called the president. Her life has gone through several ups and downs. After all kinds of rubbles, she always shines with happiness, and finally found the love she was seeking. Such a familiar story is nothing more than another Cinderella’s dream come true. Such a successful Hollywood ending shows that this is a western fairy tale wrapped in an oriental mystery, and it conforms to the perfect rules of Hollywood movies to cater to the audience. Sayuri is the Cinderella who has been bullied. Under the oppression of another geisha, Hatsumomo, she finally blooms like flowers on the branches and wins countless praises. As a result, her life has changed. Waiting for herself Although the prince experienced ups and downs during the period, the ending is still a happy ending. Different from those forest castles in fairy tales, behind the characters are replaced by narrow stone roads in Kyoto, wooden houses full of historical dust, and the oriental beauty of cherry blossoms. This is what Rob Marshall can capture. Most of the location under the lens was shot in South California, except for a few shots taken from Kyoto, Japan. Although the beauty is beautifully shot, after all, this is just the beauty of form. The charm of the East, Rob Marshall, was unable to explore further. This is a helpless thing, I think Japanese audiences should feel more helpless than us. Just as we saw Puyi played by Zun Long standing in the Forbidden City playing tennis, the Forbidden City in the lens does not look like the Forbidden City in China.
Similarly, are the three Chinese actresses really suitable for the roles in the film? Probably not, Japanese actresses should be more suitable for interpreting geisha, a specialty of pure Japanese culture, but Hollywood filmmakers don’t think so. What they need is the influence of celebrities on audiences, all of which are directly related to box office performance. The ultimate goal of marketization. From this point of view, as a Chinese audience, you should be fortunate that the influence of Chinese filmmakers in Hollywood far exceeds that of Japanese filmmakers. That is to say, American audiences will buy tickets for Zhang Ziyi to see this movie, but they will not. A certain Japanese actor bought a ticket because Zhang Ziyi had enough popularity in the United States but the Japanese actor did not. Therefore, Japanese actors did not have the opportunity to get the three most important female roles in the film. Even the best Japanese actor Kenwa Watanabe Yakusho Koji could only become the green leaf of Miss Zhang Ziyi.
Market influence is one aspect, but performance is another aspect. If you don’t consider too many elements of the special role of Geisha, I think the performances of these three Chinese actresses are worthy of recognition. Gong Li’s licentiousness is in place, and Chu Tao longs for love but is unable to grasp it. In the end, The madness of hatred occupying the body and mind is vividly displayed. Zhang Ziyi worked very hard to interpret the role of Sayuri. It should be said that such a performance is worthy of recognition, but it is still not up to the level that can make a deep impression. As for the nomination for the Golden Globe Award, it is mostly based on fame. Michelle Yeoh still takes the old and unpretentious style of Shijie to the right, but the problem is that as Sayuri's teacher, she appears soft and insufficient when teaching geisha skills. This is also related to her own strong lines. Also worthy of recognition is that Momoi Kaoru's mother, Sang, is indeed very popular, and the little actor who plays Sayuri's childhood is also very brilliant, that kind of temperament is really rare. Many people are not very satisfied with the number one actor Ken Watanabe. They always feel that there is little spark between this character and Sayuri, and there are few highlights. It is the other actor who is more admired by Koji. Introverted emotions are the masterpiece of this most powerful actor in Japan. Also familiar is the cameo of Hong Kong actor Zeng Jiang.
For "Memoirs of a Geisha", an oriental fairy tale born out of the West, it is fundamentally impossible to fully show the culture of the East, so it will never be recognized in the East. But for those Western audiences, it may still have a beautiful appeal. It is also undeniable that such a film is very likely to be recognized in the West, because it is filmed for the West from beginning to end, and is related to the East. It's just that coat, excluding the oriental coat, the story inside is purely a beautiful fairy tale in Western style.
Text: Eyebrow Ruler
View more about Memoirs of a Geisha reviews
