Thursday February 2, 2006
China bans 'Memoirs of a Geisha'
HONG KONG: The Chinese government has canceled the release of "Memoirs of a Geisha'' - a decision made amid speculation that officials are worried the sight of Chinese actresses playing Japanese geishas would stir a backlash.
 |
Datuk Michelle Yeoh plays Sayuri's mentor in Memoirs of a Geisha.
|
The official reasons weren't clear.
Chinese offices were mostly closed for the Chinese New Year holiday Thursday.
Calls to the State Administration of Radio, Film and TV and the state-owned China Film Group, the movie's distributor within China, went unanswered.
"We were pleased by their acceptance of the film in November and were disappointed by this decision,'' Jim Kennedy, a spokesman for Sony Pictures Entertainment, said.
But illegal copies of the movie are already available in China, which has come under heavy criticism for rampant piracy.
High-quality "Memoirs'' DVDs surfaced in Shanghai weeks ago.
"Memoirs,'' based on the best-selling novel by Arthur Golden, features "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'' star Zhang Ziyi, former Bond girl Michelle Yeoh and Gong Li from "Raise the Red Lantern'' as geishas - entertainers skilled in dance, song and conversation.
The casting choices may have raised fears in the Chinese government of provoking strong anti-Japanese sentiment.
Sino-Japanese relations have been strained in recent years over territorial disputes and a lingering sense among many Chinese that Japan hasn't sufficiently apologized for its World War II-era military atrocities.
China says up to 300,000 people were killed in Nanjing, the eastern city formerly known as Nanking, during a 1937 rampage of murder, rape and looting by Japanese troops.
 |
Mameha (Michelle Yeoh, standing) becomes Sayuri's (Zhang Ziyi, seated) mentor teaching her the ways of the geisha in Memoirs of a Geisha. |
Adding the already sensitive nature of the film, Zhang's character in the film serves a businessman who was a Japanese soldier in China's then-Japanese-occupied territory of Manchuria.
Among recent anti-Japanese backlash, demonstrators vandalized Japanese-related shops and smashed windows at Japanese diplomatic offices in Shanghai and Beijing in April to protest alleged whitewashing of atrocities in Japanese textbooks.
Chinese entertainers perceived as insensitive to anti-Japanese sentiment can provoke a strong reaction.
Chinese actress-singer Zhao Wei is widely reported to have been smeared with human feces during an assault after once wearing a shirt bearing the Japanese military flag.
Chinese Internet postings have already denounced Zhang as an embarrassment to China.
The failure of "Memoirs'' to get released in China is not a big financial loss for its U.S. producers.
While China has a population of 1.3 billion, its movie viewing culture is still developing, focused mainly in big cities.
The domestic box office last year came in at just 2 billion Chinese yuan (US$248 million; euro206 million), while a big hit in the U.S. can rake in hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars alone. - AP
For Another perspective from the China Daily, a partner of Asia News Network, click here
Latest entertainment news from AP-Wire
News Poll
- The world just got bigger
- Man posted doctored photos of Nik Aziz
- Opposition leaders decry court’s ruling
- Heartbreaking wait for mum
- 5-0 for BN’s Zambry
- Saiful files report over death threat
- Thumbs-up for Najib
- Fleet card cloning ring busted with arrest of trio
- WWF: Orang asli being used
- Give Zambry a chance, says Najib
- 60 lose RM25mil in gold investment scam
- PM to share CNY joy with folk of Kg Pandamaran
- Why begrudge Govt the stamp duty?
- Our mosques under-utilised
- Work language classes into the school curriculum
- Pakatan licks its wounds
- Much to cheer in book ban decision
- West still sees Iran nuclear offers as small change
- Adhere to road etiquette
- Consider training and hiring our locals first
RSS
