Movies:
The Pillow Book
DVD Release
- Release Date: 1998
- Theatrical trailer
- Scene selections
- Rating:
- Genre: Avant-garde / Experimental
- Movie Type: Erotic Drama
- Themes: Star-Crossed Lovers, Out For Revenge, Dying Young
- Director: Peter Greenaway
- Main Cast: Barbara Lott, Vivian Wu, Ewan McGregor, Yoshi Oida, Ken Ogata, Hideko Yoshida
- Release Year: 1996
- Country: NL/FR/UK
- Run Time: 123 minutes
- MPAA Rating: NC17
Plot
Peter Greenaway directed this elliptical and visually intricate tale of the far side of erotic and intellectual attraction. As a girl, Nagiko would receive a special gift each year from her father: a calligrapher (Ken Ogata) who would carefully paint a poem on her face, as her aunt (Hideko Yoshida) read aloud from The Pillow Book, a classic Japanese text on the art of love. As Nagiko (Vivian Wu) reached adulthood, her father insisted on putting a stop to this ritual, and he persuaded her to marry the nephew of his publisher (Ken Mitsuishi). But Nagiko is not satisfied with her husband, and after finding success as a model, she seeks a lover who will indulge her fondness for literature by writing verse on her naked body. In time, she finds happiness with a British expatriate named Jerome (Ewan McGregor), who persuades her to use his body as paper for her poetry, but the interference of her father's publisher (Yoshi Oida) gives their relationship a tragic turn. Greenaway deliberately mistranslated some of the French and Japanese dialogue for The Pillow Book, hoping that the occasionally fractured language would give the film a "Tower of Babel" quality. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie GuideReview
Some films get the audience emotionally involved in the lives of thoroughly developed characters; other films use characters as props and place the main emphasis on ideas or visual style. The Pillow Book falls into the latter category. Greenaway doesn't exude much compassion for his characters, even the sympathetic ones; although this film is ostensibly about erotic attraction, it's too cold and detached to generate much passion or sexual arousal. In some respects, Greenaway resembles Stanley Kubrick, whose clinical approach to his characters suggested that he viewed himself as an entomologist examining the behavior of an inferior life form under a microscope. Of course, some people would consider it a great compliment to be compared to Kubrick, and The Pillow Book demonstrates that Greenaway, like Kubrick, has a strong visual sense. Indeed, the visual elements of The Pillow Book are crucial because the film isn't just about people who happen to be involved in calligraphy; it's about the beauty of calligraphy itself, as well as a showcase for Greenaway and his colleagues to manipulate the visual (and audio) elements of the film. For example, Greenaway uses this movie to explore the differences between Eastern and Western forms of calligraphy and fine arts, including the direction of reading text and both the framing and fragmentation of picture space. You could say that he directs like a painter whose visual style depends more on the simultaneous placement of images on the picture frame than on editing or camera movement; you could say that he seems more excited by the ways he can densely pack his film with visual information than by the naked coupling of Vivian Wu and Ewan McGregor; and you could also say that his love of art compensates, at least partly, for his detached approach to his characters. So while Greenaway could have done more to get viewers involved in the relationship between Nagiko and Jerome, at least he offers us something interesting to look at. ~ Todd Kristel, All Movie GuideCast
- Vivian Wu - Nagiko
- Ewan McGregor - Jerome
- Yoshi Oida - The Publisher
- Ken Ogata - The Father
- Hideko Yoshida - The Aunt/The Maid
- Barbara Lott - Jerome's Mother
Judy Ongg - The Mother; Chrissy Ann - Model; Ronald Guttman - Publisher; Ham-Chau Luong - Calligrapher; Miwako Kawai - Young Nagiko; Akihiro Nishida - Calligrapher; Jim-Adhi Limas - Man in Lift; Ken Mitsuishi - The Husband; Farini Chang; Adrian Kwan; Tom Kane - The Book of the Exhibitionist; Ville Khaapassalo - Intruder; Andrew Chan; Chau Lam - Intruder; Chris Bearne - Calligrapher; Arnita Swanson - Edele; Hikari Abe - Nagiko's Baby; Mariko Ajimoto - 10th Century Woman; Augusto Aristotle - Calligrapher; Ryuko Azuma - Grandmother; Valerie Buchanon; Cham Ben; Chau Kwok Kwong; Edelme Christanse; Anna Chu; Tania De Jaeger - Model Friend in Café Typo; Fabienne De Marco - Model Friend in Café Typo; Dehong Chen - Calligrapher; Wichert Dromkert - The Book of the Innocent; Louis Yiu Shi Fu; Kana Haraguchi - 10th Century Woman; Midori Hatsuda - Model; Miwa Hayashi - Model; Yuki Hayashi - Young Female Secretary; Hidashi Hidaka - Calligrapher; Yutaka Honda - Hoki; Daishi Hori - The Book of Youth; Tokiko Horiike - 10th Century Woman; Hui Pai Kin; Seizo H. Inoue - 10th Century Man; Yuri Inoue - 10th Century Woman; Aki Ishimaru - Young Nagiko; Kazushi Ishimaru - Baby Nagiko; Jo Jo Hui; Bobsy Jureidini; Ai Kanafuji - Nagiko's Friend; Yoshihiro Kawai - 10th Century Man; Kheim Lam - The Book of the Seducer; Satomi Kimura - Nagiko's Friend; Tatsuya Kimura - Nephew; Toshio Kimura - 10th Century Man; Fukue Kitaoka - 10th Century Woman; Kumi Komino - Elderly Secretary; Seitaro Koyama - Nephew; Stephen C. Lam; Vanessa Lanza; Jimmy Wai Chung Lee; Anita Pui Shan Leung; Sammuel Leung; Li Chun Man; Lu Jinhua - Wife of Calligrapher; Doris Lai Fong Lui; Masaru Matsuda - The Book of Birth & Beginnings; Kentaro Matsuo - Calligrapher; Michiko Matsuo - Nagiko's Friend; Atsushi Miura - Husband's Friend; Takashi Miyake - 10th Century Man; Mr. Lo - Old Servant; Mrs. Lo - Wife; Kintaro Murayama - Nagiko's Friend; Wataru Murofushi - The Book of the Dead; Yoshihiko Nagata - Husband's Friend; Hiroshi Nakajima - 10th Century Man; Atsuko Nakamura - 10th Century Woman; Miwako Namie - 10th Century Woman; Nguyen Duc Nhan - Calligrapher; Michell Leigh Nicholson; Masami Nishio - Nagiko's Friend; Kiymi Nomura - Model; Yuki Nou - Nagiko's Friend; Yuko Nozawa - Model; Yasuko Ogawa - 10th Century Woman; Ohko - Model; Chizuru Ohnishi - Young Nagiko; Poon Wing Hong; Roger To Thanh Hien - Calligrapher; Sam; See Wah Leung - Intruder; See Yan Leung - Bookshop Manager; Yuko Shimomura - 10th Century Woman; Junko Shinohara - Model; Kageyoshi Shirakata - 10th Century Man; Makiko Shoji - 10th Century Woman; Shuen Ngar Lei; Shiho Takamatsu - Young Nagiko; Masakazu Takemura - 10th Century Man; Munenari Takeshima - 10th Century Man; Maskai Taketani - Young Male Secretary; Eiichi Tanaka - The Book of the Betrayer; Miho Tanaka - Model Friend in Café Typo; Hiromi Tani - 10th Century Woman; Tien Sing Wang - Intruder; Yorks Tong; Kinya Tsuruyama - The Book of Secrets; Martin Tukker - The Book of the Idiot; Terence Tsin Chung Tung; Kaoru Ueda - Model; Hiroko Uno - 10th Century Woman; François Van Den Bergen - Book of Seducer; Lynne Frances Wachendorfer; Paul Wan; Rick Waney - The Book of Silence; C.S. Wong; Tony Man Kit Wong; Woo Leung; Wu Wei - The Book of Old Age; Akiko Yokotani - 10th Century Woman; Atsuko Yoshikawa - 10th Century Woman; Yoshino Yoshioka - Nagiko's Friend
