They all look the same...

[JAG]

I wouldn't give up hope that there might be something of interest 
besides the sideshow.

A Kyoto friend who's becoming something of an expert on geisha, spent 
about a week in July helping Rob Marshall and a small crew scout Kyoto 
locations and somebody from the art department buy properties (hair 
ornaments, jewelry, etc).  My friend said he was especially struck by 
the 'eye' of the buyer and the command Marshall had over his crew, 
seemingly largely due to his earnestness.

He also said that the plan is to only shoot in Kyoto for about two 
weeks some time around November.

It is sad that so many of the Japanese roles are not being played by 
Japanese.  I would be interested to hear other members' speculation why 
this is so.  Is it just name recognition?

Anyone care to offer their propositions for Japanese actors to fill the 
roles?

John

Update on myself:  Last year I learned of the list while getting an MA 
in Film Studies in Dublin.  (Thanks again to all who helped in my 
reseach.) I'm now teaching mainly eikaiwa at Kyoto area universities, 
trying to do more with Film Studies and hoping to at least dabble in 
production.  (Until I fill out my schedule, I'm also putting the 
experience gained in Ireland to good use, working in an Irish Pub in 
Gion, through which many interesting characters pass. Stop in if you're 
in town and I'll pull you a pint.)


On Aug 29, 2004, at 7:49 PM, Mark Mays wrote:

> Yeah, did you expect any more from them? On the other hand, maybe some 
> great controversy will erupt from it all and provide some interesting 
> side show.
> ----- Original Message -----
>  From: Mark Nornes
> To: KineJapan
> Sent: Sunday, August 29, 2004 7:40 PM
> Subject: They all look the same...
>
> A few years ago, Spielberg was interviewed in the midst of 
> preproduction for Memoirs of a Geisha. The reporter describes costume 
> designs for the film's kimono spread out over a table, and admires all 
> the elaborate images of dragons decorating the costumes. Ever since 
> that moment, I've been looking forward to how cheesy the final film 
> would be. Looks like I won't be disappointed. The dragon motifs 
> foreshadowed the casting: Watanabe Ken will be joined by Zhang Ziyi, 
> Michelle Yeoh, and Li Gong.
>
> Markus
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: text/enriched
Size: 3320 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://mailman.yale.edu/pipermail/kinejapan/attachments/20040829/14f3c762/attachment.bin