From AP, via the Seattle Times:
The makers of “Memoirs of a Geisha” expected to be lauded for creating the first big-budget Hollywood movie with Asian actors in every leading role. Instead, they find themselves defending casting decisions that have inflamed historical tensions between Japan and China.
The English-language film is set in Japan and adapted from the American novel by Arthur Golden. It stars Chinese actresses Ziyi Zhang and Gong Li, and Chinese-Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh. They join several Japanese performers, including Ken Watanabe.
For months, the Internet has been filled with vitriolic debate over cultural insensitivity. The arguments boil down to this: A movie about Japanese culture should have a Japanese actress in the lead.
See also “The Memoirs of Zhang Ziyi” from Comingsoon.net.
