Memoirs of a Geisha

I thought the headline of thisthis New York Times article about the upcoming film version of Memoirs of a Geisha was a bit misleading. "Memoirs of a Chinese-American Geisha" almost implies that the title actress is Chinese American, when she is not--in the starring role is the PRC's Zhang Ziyi, of Crouching Tiger, Hero, and Flying Daggers fame. It doesn't really matter, except that would have been rather remarkably odd in its own right; instead the title refers to the fact that this is a story written by Americans and produced and directed by Americans, starring mostly Chinese stars, about the Japanese Geisha culture before and during the War.

I was taken aback by the still the Times published--Zhang Ziyi is almost unrecognizable in profile. The difference is particularly notable since, in the last film I saw of hers, The House of Flying Daggers, she basically opens up as an ancient Chinese version of a Geisha. So the difference isn't the fact that she's actually smiling and graceful, but that she's caked in white make-up. It will be interesting to see her in a movie where she doesn't try to kill anyone. Unless they changed the story considerably to better suit her repertoire.