The Pillow Book Movie Review 1995

Greenaway's usual chilliness gives way to some true erotic heat that still keeps to arcane subjects, violence, and dazzling visuals. Japanese model Nagiko (Wu) longs for the childhood rituals enacted by her calligrapher father (Ogata) as he literally painted birthday greetings on her face with brush and ink. As an adult, Nagiko searches out calligrapher/lovers willing to use her body as their paper but she's still unsatisfied until she meets bisexual Englishman Jerome (McGregor) and he insists Nagiko write on him. When Nagiko learns Jerome's male lover is the publisher (Oida) who was once involved with her father, her jealousy triggers tragic consequences. Title refers to the 10th century diary "The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon." Some subtitled Japanese dialogue.

Distribution

Sony Pictures Home Video, Sony Pictures Plz., 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, CA 90232, Phone: (310)244-7306, Fax: (310)280-2485, URL: http://www.spe.sony.com, Remarks: Formerly Columbia Tristar Home Entertainment

Available on VHS, DVD
Running time 126 minutes.
Originally from Dutch, French, British.

Cast and Crew

Genres

Sexcapades, Gays, Writers, Dads, Japan, Women, Childhood Visions, Adapted from Memoirs or Diaries

Screenplay

Peter Greenaway

Cast

Vivian Wu, Ewan McGregor, Yoshi Oida, Ken Ogata, Hideko Yoshida, Judy Ongg, Ken Mitsuishi, Yutaka Honda, Ronald Guttman

Cinematography

Sacha Vierny

Director

Peter Greenaway

Producer

Kees Kasander, Jean-Louis Piel, Channel Four Film, Studio Canal Plus, Delux Productions, CFP International