China in it's wisdom has banned the film.
China bans Geisha film
February 2, 2006 - 12:39PM
The Chinese government has cancelled the film 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.
The film originally was cleared for distribution on February 9, but the State Administration of Radio, Film and TV reversed the decision over the weekend, a US film industry official said on Wednesday on condition of anonymity.
The official reasons were not immediately clear, and Chinese authorities couldn't be reached because offices were closed for a national holiday.
"We were pleased by their acceptance of the film in November and were disappointed by this decision," said Jim Kennedy, a spokesman for Sony Pictures Entertainment, which had planned to distribute the film in China.
Memoirs, based on the best-selling novel by Arthur Golden, features Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon star Ziyi Zhang, 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 had stoked traditional Sino-Japanese tensions even before its scheduled release, with postings on a Chinese website denouncing Zhang as an embarrassment to China.
Many Chinese are still upset about Japanese World War II-era military atrocities in China and the lack of what they feel is a proper apology for them.
Historians generally estimate the Japanese army killed about 150,000 people during its 1937-38 occupation of China's Nanjing city, then known as Nanking.
Chinese historians put the death toll at as high as 300,000. |
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