ghost dog/crouching tiger hidden dragon

[Lori Hitchcock]

In the same vein as Jacqui's post, I'd just like to mention James Shamus's
response to Derek Elley's recent Variety article, which makes many of the
claims of "Hollywoodization" and lack of "authenticity" in CTHK (article
from the Feb. 11 issue of Variety) in explaining the film's performance
throughout East and Southeast Asia. While this is perhaps a bit off topic
at this point, I think the broader implications for studies of Japanese
film are also clear from the debate as it is playing out in the pages of
Variety.  I've heard - through the grapevine and entirely as hearsay and
conjecture, but... - that there are rumors that Miramax and Dreamworks
have had a hand in decrying the film's 'lack of authenticity' in a ploy to
weaken it for the Oscars...but perhaps I'm just contributing to
rumor-mongering here.

I'll just mention that I also saw Ghost Dog and really just enjoyed it.  I
didn't experience much in the way of the authenticity angst that has come
to characterize some discussions of East Asian film over the years...

Lori Hitchcock