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NEW YORK — Talent and fame trumped culture and nationality in the casting of Memoirs Of A Geisha.
With no apologies, U.S. filmmaker Rob Marshall selected three Chinese actresses to play the three most important roles as Japanese geisha in his fable-like film, which opens Friday in selected theatres, including Toronto.
Two of them, Ziyi Zhang and Gong Li, are superstars who were born and raised in the People’s Republic of China. The third, Michelle Yeoh, is a Malaysian of Chinese heritage. She rose to stardom in Hong Kong martial arts movies.
Together, they weave a romantic tale of good vs. evil, of honesty vs. deceit, of love and heartbreak in an esoteric world brought to life in Arthur Golden’s novel.
“I have a very simple philosophy when it comes to casting,” Marshall says. “It really is casting the best person for the role. We had casting directors all over the world and the hope is as a director, when an actor walks in, (that actor) claims the role: ‘This is mine!’ ”
Marshall says Ziyi Zhang, Gong Li and Michelle Yeoh all claimed their roles. But the casting has caused “a ripple” of controversy in Japan, where there is already a rising tide of racist backlash against neighbouring Asian countries, particularly China and South Korea. Adult comic books ridiculing Chinese and Korean culture are gaining popularity there among a restless segment of the population.
But Marshall, famed on Broadway as a dancer, choreographer and stage director, took a pragmatic approach in his second film (his debut film as director was the Oscar-winning Chicago). He ignored the backlash and did it his way. Because this is a Hollywood film and shot primarily in English (after the brief Japanese-language prologue), Marshall figured he had the poetic licence to do so.
Especially in the casting of Zhang Ziyi, who plays the title character from the age of 15 to 35, from 1935 to 1955. Marshall says the role of the geisha Sayuri demanded an actress who is fluent in English. Zhang’s command of the language is now remarkable, thanks to hours of lessons a day for months on end. When she first catapulted into stardom as the moody princess in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), she could barely say hello or goodbye in English.
Zhang, who studied at Beijing Dance Academy as a child, also possessed another valuable skill: She could execute the elaborate dance sequence for Sayuri’s public debut.
“They (all) had to learn to become a geisha in literally six weeks,” says Marshall, singling out Zhang for special attention. “And she had to do that incredible dance. It takes a lifetime to become a geisha. Really, the subtleties are extraordinary. So we had to approximate the idea of what that would be. The dance was very key to me. Also, she had to age from 15 to 35 and she had to have that great spirit.
“To me, an actor like Ziyi comes along once in a generation. She is 26 years old and she is extraordinary on every level. There was no question: She was Sayuri.”
As for Gong Li, who plays a bitter rival geisha named Hatsumomo, her English is basic, even awkward in conversation. She usually requires a Mandarin/English translator. But Marshall still goes into rhapsody describing her: “I would say that Gong Li is probably one of the greatest actors in the world. It is pretty much that simple.
“That was the hardest role in the movie because it could easily have become a one-dimensional character — bitch! — who plays evil for evil’s sake. With Gong Li, I have a three-dimensional actor. She could make her full-blooded and, for me, it was an honour to work with this great actor.”
Michelle Yeoh won Marshall over with her multi-dimensional talents as a trained dancer, a martial arts performer and as a serious actress. As Mameha, she becomes mentor to Sayuri at a crucial point in the story.
“She had to be able to teach and become the perfect geisha,” Marshall says of Yeoh’s character. “So the combination of her physicality and incredible elegance, incredible warmth and great wisdom was everything that Mameha needed.”
Thanks, says Yeoh with a chuckle about winning the role, but the geisha training was a real pain. “We used to laugh about this, but it was not that funny.”
As part of the rehearsal period, the actresses were taken from room to room in a training facility, learning geisha arts ranging from specialized dance to walking in a kimono to the exacting rituals of sake and tea. “We called them the seven rooms of torture,” Yeoh says sarcastically. “Every day was something new, something to learn, and we had an amazing geisha consultant.”
Yeoh also gained a perspective on the lost, ritualized world that she knew little about before Memoirs Of A Geisha.
“I think the essence of being a geisha is her understanding her place, what a geisha is about. She spends her entire life practising her skills so that, when she is out there, she is on show. She is literally a moving piece of art.”
ZIYI ZHANG
* 26
* Born in Beijing, China
* the ingenue in this trio
While still a student at the Central Drama College in Beijing, she won the lead in Zhang Yimou’s The Road Home (1998). Soared to international prominence as the princess in Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), which also starred Yeoh, who Zhang treasures as “my big sister.” Zhang’s other recent film credits include a comedy role in Rush Hour 2 with Jackie Chan and serious roles in Zhang Yimou’s Hero and House Of Flying Daggers, in which she demonstrates a Yeoh-style elegance in martial arts scenes. Now shooting a Chinese movie, Ye Yan, in Beijing.
Quote: “I think for me the biggest obstacle is the language,” she says of shooting Memoirs in English. “When I got this news that I got this role, I wasn’t sure I could do that because a long time ago some friend from the film business told me that it is impossible to act in a second language because the language will be a barrier. I trust this person ... but, after doing this movie, I have to say that’s not true. Really, I could get into Sayuri’s mind.”
MICHELLE YEOH
* 43
* Born in Ipoh, Malaysia
* Studied ballet in England
After a short dance career, Yeoh captured the Miss Malaysia beauty pageant title in her native country. She also won the Miss Moomba beauty pageant title in Melbourne, Australia in the early 1980s.
Later, established herself as an action star in Hong Kong martial arts movies, starting with Owl Vs. Dumbo (1984).
She was first billed as Michelle Khan, then later, Michelle Yeoh.
Yeoh was a Bond girl opposite 007 star Pierce Brosnan in Tomorrow Never Dies and the romantic lead opposite Chow Yun-Fat in Crouching Tiger.
She produced and starred in Silver Hawk (2004), a frustrating comic book superhero film that did not get a proper distribution.
Quote: “The greatest attraction to do this movie was Rob Marshall. And I had been a big fan of the book, initially.
“When I heard it was Rob Marshall going to direct the film, I really felt that he was the perfect guy because he had that sense and sensibility — the masculine and very feminine sides of him.
“And he came from a dance background, he was a choreographer, and it felt that this movie really needed that fluid side — the geisha really needed to flutter about.”
GONG LI
* 40 on Dec. 31
* Born Shenyang, China
* Graduated from Central Drama College in 1984
She made her film debut in Zhang Yimou’s stunning Red Sorghum (1987) and rose to fame in six more of Zhang’s films (they were lovers at one point) and in the films of another major Chinese director, Chen Kaige, including Farewell My Concubine. Both she and Ziyi Zhang appeared in 2046, from Korean master Wong Kar-wei. Has a role in the new Miami Vice flick. Is now shooting Young Hannibal: Behind The Mask.
Quote: “This is the first time that I’ve played a character like this,” she says of being the villain. “She is very complex. The most important thing was that she is a geisha. It is very different for me because I am not at all familiar with the life of geisha. But, whether she is Japanese or Chinese or French or English doesn’t really matter. What is important here is that she is a woman ... Her personality is like mercury, it moves around a lot. And the second thing is that she has a life force, a vivacity like an animal.”