This movie was showing on television while I was reading a book. All of a sudden I heard the voice of the great Alec Guinness. I looked up, and it was indeed him on the screen. Since I was only half paying attention, it took a few more moments before I realized that Alec Guinness was playing a Japanese man, complete with makeup to make his eyes look slanted. Not only did I not believe for a second that this man was Japanese, this was one of the most offensive images I have ever seen. To me, this is just as bad as putting an actor in blackface to portray an African American. Guinness may be a master actor, but whoever cast him for this film was woefully misguided. Of course, next to the ridiculous Jewish stereotypes and bad performances from the other stars, this might not have seemed like a bad idea at the time. In 2001, it comes across as shockingly racist.
Review of A Majority of One
