Finally, we beat Tarantino Archives to some big news. We too have friends in places, 🙂 and we have it on good authority that the final casting pieces of Quentin Tarantino’s sprawling WWII saga, “Inglourious Basterds” have fallen into place.
Wait, what’s left? Well, Maggie Cheung has evidently been cast as Madame Mimieux, the French matron of the Cinematheque that takes in the protagonist Shosanna (Melanie Laurent) when she is homeless and being sought by the Nazis. Wait, Cheung is Chinese, right, born in Hong Kong? Yes, but she speaks fluent French, so evidently that role will have to be adjusted ever so slightly, but a Chinese woman who lives in France during WWII and owns a prestigious cinema? Seems a little odd, no? Perhaps not in “movieness” Tarantino world where the same rules don’t apply.
OK, wait, so that’s it, right? Nope. Who wanted a role really badly and called up Tarantino himself when he heard he wasn’t up for any casting spots? Looks like Samuel L. Jackson has weaseled his way into the film as the narrator who’s present only in a few spots (beginning page 24), but mostly pops up at random time in the script to add some context and background info.
Interesting, huh? We actually prefer Jackson’s involvement than the news of Cheung (who’s a fine actress, but seems out of place here), but again, in Tarantino movies, it’s a separate world and hell, maybe he can make it work. Still we would’ve much rather seen a classic French actress in the vein of Catherine Deneuve (once rumored), Nastassja Kinski (up for another role and then dropped out), or Isabelle Huppert (who was apparently up for the role and then quit-fired or something close to it).
It has been 4+ years since Maggie Cheung win Cannes best actress award for Clean in 2004.
Can’t wait to see her on big screen.
Cheung won the Best Actress in Cannes for “Clean”? Wow, I forgot about that.
That’s a real case for seeing the film on the big screen cause I saw Assayas’ film on DVD and wasn’t really that moved. She was good, but not like enthralling.
Movies are always better in the theaters.
You mean Clean or Irma Vep? Clean is for Maggie Cheung and by Maggie Cheung:) and the latter is a ironic comedy about film-making.
BTW, she also won Berlin best actress prize for Center Stage (aka Actress, directed by Hong Kong’s Stanley Kwan) in 1992.
Maggie is fantastic. It’s rather superficial to judge her ability to take on the role by her race isn’t it? She’s definitely enthralling, though not in the movie ‘Clean’. She is the Eastern version of Cate Blanchett.
She is able to take on that role. That is unquestionable
Well having read the script, it’s not really superficial at all.
The character is supposed to be a older French woman in WWII.
And she’s supposed to be posing as the mother or relative (can’t remember) of Shosanna who is clearly caucasian and French.
That’s why I question it. How will they pull that off?
They won’t. They’ll have to re-write it.
And how many Chinese woman did you know that were well-off and owned their own cinemas in France during Nazi-occupied WWII?
That’s why I question it. Has nothing to do with not liking her or judging her race at all.
Since Tarantino recycles actors, I’m surprised he didn’t pick Julie Dreyfus, who is French.
He did use Julie Dreyfus again, she has another role. Do a search on our blog. I’m too tired to find.
i’m just excited to see quentin directing another film… i live for his work.
i think they will ajust Madame Mimieux for Maggie Cheung if she really is in the cast as they gotta do for Deuneve or Huppert had any of them been Madame Mimieux.
nice post
Ugh, whatever.
Maggie Cheung is an incredible actress and if this means she’s returning to the silver screen, I’m psyched.
And about the whole “race” thing – no one balked when Brad Pitt played a Greek in “Troy”. And so many people rushed to defend Ziyi Zhang when she played a Japanese woman in “Memoirs of a Geisha”, but suddenly a Chinese woman playing a Frenchwoman – oh no!
If Cheung can break some barriers for other Asian actresses, I say more power to her.