Native Japanese Thoughts on American made Japanese Movies.
 

Movies such as: The Last Samurai, Kill Bill, Memoirs of a Geisha, etc. I have many Japanese friends who live here, all of which despise the American made Japanese movies. They feel as if they insult their culture, and I do somewhat agree when they explain the native culture so exponentially. I was inquiring on the thoughts of the native Japanese here, who may shed further light into it. My Japanese friends(all of which are 100% native Japanese that moved here), also hate anime.

Im not to sure about your question as a whole. I have never asked any of my japanese friends. But I dont think you can include kill bill on there. Its not really trying to be a Japanese movie, it is what it is.

I especially enjoy when they have Chinese actors playing Japanese characters. :rolleyes:

That's what pisses them off the most. But not enough Japanese actors or actresses can speak passable English is the problem.

All of which were big hits in Japan.

The production company that made Memoirs of a Geisha (titled Sayuri in Japan) is Japanese-owned.

Gong Li and Zhang Ziyi are bigger box office draws in Japan than any female Japanese lead.

The Last Samurai did a higher box office in Japan than it did in the US, and did better critically, too.

And as was stated, Kill Bill doesn't count.

The Japanese-Americans that I know all hate The Last Samurai. Most my native Japanese friends all love The Last Samurai. Go figure.

Have you ever asked their opinions of "Letters from Iwo Jima"?

I think there is a difference in attitudes outside Japan than inside. Inside, it`s generally positive - or at the least amusement. (Like with Kill Bill)

Outside Japan, I think that there is more exposure to stereotypes and racism toward Japanese... And movies like those tend to appear to only support and fortify those stereotypes.

It's hard for me to understand why anyone would be insulted by things like that. I mean, it's not like they have good portrayals of Americans or English people in what they make (from what I've seen).

In fact, I usually find their portrayals humorous. And the stereotypes are just hilarious. Even in dramas,if they have an English speaker, he is still forced to speak in a very unnatural English (although obviously is a native English speaker from the accent).

I've fortunately have never met any Japanese face-to-face (I have online) with such qualms as having their culture misrepresented or just innaccurately represented. They have much the same humor as I have about it.

Definitely. There's no point in getting offended. It's also a good laugh. :)

I see, very informative. I was simply curious as to other's opinions on the matter. I own these movies, and I enjoy them, yet as to not disrespect the friendship and bond I have with my Japanese friends, I do not speak on the subject. However, they love DDR, smoking, BBQs, Green Tea, Rock music, and abstract photography. Very fun to be around. We often go to Samurai Expos, Tea Ceremonies, and Botanical Gardens. As asked by megabyte117, I have not asked them on their opinion of that movie. Everyone does have differing opinions though, it is only natural. The Chinese playing Japanese in movies is also something that irritates them, as stated earlier in this thread.

If you have seen the quality of your typical Japanese movie or television drama, then there is no mystery why American productions do so well. Japanese productions are so neurotic and predictable that I'm often tempted to start throwing things at my tv screen. Japanese pop music is much the same, it's over-produced crap, like the "Back Street Boys" on steroids. It's no wonder that stores, hair salons, and radio stations play primarily Western music.

As for the popularity of anime in Japan, it's still very strong. The annual "Naruto-fest" draws huge crowds, and you'll find long lines in Akihabara when new editions are released.

BTW, "Letters from Iwo Jima" was a big hit here, and Clint Eastwood is more or less a hero.

Cool. I saw the movie and wondered how receptive the Japanese were to it. Very well done.

Last Samurai
 

I got past the whole white guy riding in to save the day thing and saw The last samurai for what it was, a great movie. To me , it was the best american asian movie I'd seen in along time. Edward Zwick really tried to stay true to Japanese culture. The best sequence of the whole movie is when the ninja's try to assasinate Katsumoto. The sheer intensity of the fighting was unbelievable.

I really enjoyed Last Samurai, It's probably going to be difficult to market that type of movie to both countries and make everyone happy, but I think they did an admirable job.

Letters from Iwo Jima was really good as well. I particularly enjoyed the extras on the DvD.

I never saw Kill Bill as a Japanese movie so eh.

There is a novel out called "All you need is Kill" that shows Americans in a positive light, American military no less. It's a pretty action based read wich I enjoyed.

i only enjoyed the last samurai movie...........becouse its showed the meaning of respect and friendship,eventhough its not 100% about the true friendship

That's a bit harsh...

The majority of American productions are typically crap also... (GI Joe? Transformers 2? Disaster movie, Superhero movie... I could go on forever! )

There are gems amongst the crap though... both in Japan and in America.

Loved The Last Samurai, one of my favorites. Hated Kill Bill. I still don't know if it was meant to be a comedy or if its just that stupid. Never saw Memoirs of a Geisha. Most of the crap movies from America are crap because they play off something that did good. Transformers 1 did amazing, so everyone expected Transformers 2 to be just as good and would go see it no matter what they did to it. Same thing with Disaster movie and date movie and all those crappy parody movies. Scary Movie was semi funny and the general population of America (not being very smart, sorry its a fact, I live with these people everyday) find these movies hilarious. People kept going to see them so they kept making them. It was all about money.

Why would this piss anyone off? You know, when people are in movies, they are acting. People fake accents, looks, styles, behavior, etc. all the time, but should the people who really have those qualities be mad at them? Nationalities are no different. Seriously, it does not take a Japanese person to act like a Japanese person.

....huh?

I think the typical Japanese movie is a lot better than the typical American movie.....as for drama I can't say, don't have time to watch them...maybe US has the upper hand here.

I am not japanese and I still had serious problems with Last Samurai. The casting of that idiot in the lead was only the beginning - that's a personal dislike of him. It took several tries before I could sit through the whole film, but there was much of it that was objectionable and the story's slant bordered on offensive. I would rather sit through a Kurosawa epic in black & white without subtitles, understanding none of the dialogue than endure that one again.

As for Memoirs, I understand both sides of the issue and find it regrettable that a suitable Japanese actress was not found to play such a culturally specific role. But I am glad that when none was found the production was not scrapped and that when complaints about the actress's heritage were raised the issue was not buried.

Anime - well.... there is very little of it I like, but then I am not a pre-teen.

Come to think of it, I don't think I've seen many Japanese movies... I've seen Sukiyaki Western Django if that counts, though it wasn't that great I thought... :-/

I haven't seen it nor have considered seeing it because of that.

I like Zhang Ziyi, but that pissed me off, because of the differences between the Japanese and Chinese(I fight on an almost daily basis about how they are NOT the same, and I'm Hispanic, yet it still grates my nerves*probably because people think that Puerto Rican and Mexican is the same thing, and I ******* hate that. I'm NOT a Mexican!!!)

Yeah, I'm not Japanese, but I find that more offensive than MoaG; clearly you have no idea of how many different kinds of manga and anime there is catering to VERY different types of people.

wow, even after Gran Torino?
lol gosh, even i felt offended by his character... and i'm white! lol

Clint Eastwood is not the character from Gran Torino, he is an actor playing the part of a racist.

well i knew that much, my post was more to make a joke. guess i should be more clear next time. lol my bad.

The "last" Samurai was a white guy. That concept is such a slap in the face right?

I'm guilty of being unaware of the facial differences between Chinese and Japanese. I watch a lot of Asian film, but because of so much role reversal I still can't tell the difference.

(The above is obviously a joke.)

They seem to do that all the time, like they're under the impression that all Asians are the same :confused:

I guess I need to repeat myself on several threads, but even the Chinese actresses that played geishas are bigger sellers in Japan than Japanese actresses. This is the reality. So you American and European purists need to understand the marketing of international films over Western and Eastern markets.

Welcome to Modern International Film-making 101: 2009.

The main character being white is not an insult. The character is supposed to be a American who failed in the Army and went to Japan as a mercenary.

But having him even vaguely referred or even compared favorably to as a samurai seemed demeaning to samurai legacy. Yes, the samurai were mercenaries of a sort, but they were also their own subculture and not mere opportunists.

A lot of people have commented on this... but does it really matter? I think it's shocking that people don't realise that they're implying that an actor/actress should only play roles where the character is from their country! If that's not what you guys are implying, then you obviously have double standards because I'm sure you don't complain when an American plays and Englishman, or a Canadian plays a Frenchman and so on and so forth!

See, this confuses me a little as I always thought the title "The Last Samurai" was in reference to Ken Watanabe's character, Katsumoto, not Nathen Algren and more besides, I never thought of the word 'Samurai' in the title as being singular.

Maybe that's just me...

Whereas I always regarded it as referring to both of characters - Cruise and Watanabe. Otherwise there would have been more film footage without Cruise.

When you consider what an epic failure Japanese make to imitate Western culture and proprieties, it becomes more understandable.

It's as subtle as telling the difference between an American Golden Retiever and a European one. Or the difference between a Scott and a German, or such.

You have to look closely for a long time, but then you'll only see it if you were smart to begin with.

If they take it as an insult, it's up to them.

Actually, a lot of Japanese traditions today live on (especially in martial arts) through foreigners more so than the Japanese.

I thought it was a bad idea, too, before I saw the movie. After watching it, I thought it was a fair story.

Is it important?

Really?

I don't think any eyebrows were raised when an Anglo-Saxon American man got to play the role of a Greek Champion, Archilies, in the movie, Troy.

Thus, why should we complain about this? She was a SE Asian. Only freaks can tell the difference.

I took it as though it was talking about Algren simply because at the end, when he speaks to the emporer, he said he would gladly end his life if the emporer thought of him as the enemy. This is obviously a reference to Katsumoto saying it previously to highlight that the samurai were there to serve the emperor!