ZIYI ZHANG - ZHANG SLAMS PETTY JAPANESE CENSORS FOR BANNING MEMOIRS

ZHANG SLAMS PETTY JAPANESE CENSORS FOR BANNING MEMOIRS

Chinese actress ZIYI ZHANG feels Japanese censors who banned MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA should feel ashamed of their actions. The CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON star was appalled when officials scrapped screenings of the acclaimed ROB MARSHALL movie due to the fact the director hired Chinese stars to play Japanese geisha girls. She insists CHICAGO director Marshall was more interested in hiring Oriental actresses who could dance, rather than pay attention to strict ancient codes, which dictate only Japanese women can become geishas. Zhang says, "Geisha was not meant to be a documentary. I remember seeing in the Chinese newspaper a piece that said we had only spent six weeks to learn everything and that was not respectful toward the culture. "It's like saying that if you're playing a mugger, you have to rob a certain number of people. "To my mind, what this issue is all about, though, is the intense historical problems between China and Japan. The whole subject is a landmine."