Citing Public Sentiment, China Cancels Release of ‘Geisha’ - David Barboza
A week before “Memoirs of a Geisha” was scheduled to open at movie theaters here, the Chinese government canceled the showing of the Hollywood film, reportedly because of concerns that it could spark public anger and rekindle anti-Japanese sentiment.
Officials at Sony Pictures Entertainment said they were notified of the cancellation early this week. Film industry officials and the Chinese state media said last week that government officials were worried that the public could be outraged by seeing three of the Chinese-language world’s leading actresses portraying Japanese geishas.
