The Pillow Book (1996)

Director:

Peter Greenaway

Writers:

Sei Shonagon (book)
Peter Greenaway (written by)

Release Date:

6 June 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Things that make the heart beat faster.

Plot:

As a young girl in Japan, Nagiko's father paints characters on her face, and her aunt reads to her from "The Pillow Book"...

Plot Keywords:

Male Full Frontal Nudity | Japan | Surrealism | Tokyo Japan | Tokyo

Awards:

5 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Vivian Wu	...	Nagiko
Yoshi Oida	...	The Publisher
Ken Ogata	...	The Father
Hideko Yoshida	...	The Aunt / The Maid
Ewan McGregor	...	Jerome
Judy Ongg	...	The Mother
Ken Mitsuishi	...	The Husband
Yutaka Honda	...	Hoki
Barbara Lott	...	Jerome's Mother
Miwako Kawai	...	Young Nagiko
Lynne Langdon	...	Jerome's sister (as Lynne Frances Wachendorfer)
Chizuru Ohnishi	...	Young Nagiko
Shiho Takamatsu	...	Young Nagiko
Aki Ishimaru	...	Young Nagiko
Hisashi Hidaka	...	Calligrapher

Also Known As:

The Pillow Book (France)

Runtime:

126 min

Country:

UK | France | Netherlands | Luxembourg

Language:

English | Cantonese | Italian | Japanese | Mandarin | French

Colour:

Black and White | Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.75 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

USA:NC-17 (original rating) | Singapore:R(A) (cut) | Canada:18A | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Finland:K-15 (DVD rating) | Finland:K-16 (original rating) | France:-12 | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:III | Portugal:M/16 | South Korea:18 | Spain:13 | UK:18 | USA:Not Rated

Filming Locations:

Hong Kong, China

Company:

Kasander & Wigman Productions

Trivia:

When Nagiko's mother delivers the birthday blessing, she starts in Japanese, as her father did, and then switches to Mandarin Chinese.

Goofs:

Mike visible during wide shot when Nagiko kneels and Jerome signs his name on her back. 01:03:59 into the film on PAL DVDs.

Quotes:

Nagiko: When God made the first clay model of a human being, He painted in the eyes... the lips... and the sex. And then He painted in each person's name lest the person should ever forget it. If God approved of His creation, He brought the painted clay model into life by signing His own name.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Deed Poll (2004) (V)

Soundtrack:

Nasori

Cinematic Art

Anything by Greenaway is bound to be cinematic Art, but this effort is particularly brilliant.

It has full-frontal nudity, male and female -- not presented necessarily in sexual context, but you might want to pick your audience carefully. The nudity and homosexuality in the film are handled offhandedly and without prejudice, thus removing any hint of perversion or pornography. I know that sounds odd, but believe me, I'm a very conservative individual/artist.

But that's not The Film -- the plot is intriguing, the Art is breathtaking, and the calligraphy, ahhhhhhh, is astoundingly beautiful, especially when transcribed on human form. The vessel and the content are one -- how sublime of author and director.

My criticism? Sometimes Greenaway seems to think that we can simultaneously process all five lanes of the highway that run in his head. I, for one, am willing to watch his films twice. (Well, maybe not "The Falls").

Greenaway offers food for my soul -- I kiss both his eyes.