- Title: UK: 'Memoirs of a Geisha' hits the big screen in the UK
- Date: 12th January 2006
- Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (JANUARY 11, 2006) (REUTERS) CURZON MAYFAIR CINEMA; PHOTOGRAPHERS; RED LANTERNS
- Embargoed: 27th January 2006 12:00
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- Reuters ID: LVA690NUYJD62ZUBXO4N5N09NFA6
- Story Text: A pan-Asian cast and American director attended the UK premiere of a Japanese love story on Wednesday (January 11). 'Memoirs of a Geisha' is the big screen version of Arthur Golden's bestselling novel, which opened in Japan and the United States early December. The movie tells the story of a Japanese child sold by her poor fisherman father to work as a maid in a geisha house in Kyoto. Despite some nasty rivalry, the girl blossoms into the legendary geisha Sayuri, who falls in love. The romantic epic is directed by Rob Marshall, who's best known for his Oscar winning debut Chicago. The American director experienced the Japanese phenomenon himself to research the film. "I needed to go to Japan and I spent many weeks there with my entire team, including the choreographer and the designers, the photographers and the producers were all there learning and soaking up as much as we could, we were entertained by geisha," Marshall said. The director focuses on the hidden culture of geisha. Neither a wife, nor prostitute, she is an artist who entertains powerful men. A geisha has intense music, dance and conversation classes. "We only had six weeks to do the geisha bootcamp, I think we needed like six months or six years. You know being a geisha is something they do, they train for their whole lives and they spent many hours because there are so many facets of it. For us we had, what we called the seven rooms of torture, one were was purely, I had to learn the shamisen, that is a musical instrument that every geisha must perfect and play very well. Then, there was a dancing room, then there was a room just learning how to pour sake, how to pour tea, how to even hold your cup. Then there was another room where you learned how to walk in the kimono and to make the tail, the kimono flutter as you glide across the teahouse. Then there was a room where we do all our rehearsals and I guess the most important room, is the room with Rob, where we sat down and talked about the characters and how we portray what is necessary to make this movie, this love story complete," explained Michelle Yeoh, who plays the role of geisha instructor to Sayuri. Though offering audiences a conventional love story set in a mysterious world, the film has been subject to media criticism. The casting sparked anger in Japan and China ahead of its December release. Critics in both countries were unhappy that the movie's main characters, practitioners of Japan's traditional arts of music and dance, are played by Chinese nationals or ethnic Chinese. However, Marshall's intention is not about being insensitive but about being successful in telling the story. "My job as director is really to find the greatest actors in the world for these roles. And I looked everywhere, I looked in Japan, I looked in China, I looked in America, I looked in England and found this extraordinary cast. It's interesting, I find the controversy about the casting sort of archaic in a way, because I don't see it in that way, I really see, these are actors who are playing roles, as you know, you look at Heath Ledger, for example, and Jack Gyllenhaal are playing gay men and they certainly aren't gay," Marshall said. Michelle Yeoh agreed with Marshall and hopes audiences will sit back, relax and enjoy an incredible journey. "I think at the end of the day, you know, we are making a movie, we are creating dreams, we are presenting to you a love story, a fairy tale," Yeah said.
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