Pillow Book

Theatrical Release Date: 1997 06 06 (USA)

UPC: 043396287099

Studio: Columbia TriStar

MPAA Rating: NR   Contains:[Nudity, Adult Situations, Strong Sexual Content, Not For Children, Adult Language]

Summary: 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, Rovi

Category: Drama

Features: Theatrical trailer
Scene selections

Pillow Book

Format: Digital Video Disc (DVD)

Release Date: 12/15/1998

Runtime: 126 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Subtitles: English

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Chapters: Scene Selections
0. Scene Selections
1. Start [2:17]
2. Birthday greeting [3:42]
3. The Pillow Book [15:03]
4. Arranged marriage [6:28]
5. The first fire [5:42]
6. Calligrapher lovers [5:24]
7. Jerome [10:58]
8. Rejection [3:28]
9. Seduction [11:20]
10. Jerome's Plan [1:32]
11. First Book [5:21]
12. Second & Third Book [1:25]
13. Fourth Book [:23]
14. Fifth Book [5:02]
15. Hoki's advice [2:53]
16. Like Romeo & Juliet [3:38]
17. Book of the Lover [3:03]
18. Funeral [2:24]
19. The second fire [1:21]
20. Sixth Book [5:23]
21. Seventh Book [1:55]
22. Eighth Book [3:47]
23. Ninth Book [2:03]
24. Tenth Book [:48]
25. Eleventh Book [:25]
26. Twelfth Book [1:24]
27. Thirteenth Book [5:53]
28. 28th Brithday [7:42]

Todd Kristel

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, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Ken Mitsuishi  Actor 
Ham-Chau Luong  Actor 
Barbara Lott  Actor 
Hikari Abe  Actor 
Anna Chu  Actor 
Miwa Hayashi  Actor 
Yuri Inoue  Actor 
Satomi Kimura  Actor 
Jimmy Wai Chung Lee  Actor 
Michiko Matsuo  Actor 
Hiroshi Nakajima  Actor 
Yuko Nozawa  Actor 
See Yan Leung  Actor 
Munenari Takeshima  Actor 
Martin Tukker  Actor 
C.S. Wong  Actor 
Chris Bearne  Actor 
Chau Kwok Kwong  Actor 
Kana Haraguchi  Actor 
Hui Pai Kin  Actor 
Yoshihiro Kawai  Actor 
Stephen C. Lam  Actor 
Masaru Matsuda  Actor 
Wataru Murofushi  Actor 
Kiymi Nomura  Actor 
Sam  Actor 
Shiho Takamatsu  Actor 
Yorks Tong  Actor 
Paul Wan  Actor 
Yoshino Yoshioka  Actor 
Adrian Kwan  Actor 
Ville Khaapassalo  Actor 
Augusto Aristotle  Actor 
Fabienne De Marco  Actor 
Hidashi Hidaka  Actor 
Kazushi Ishimaru  Actor 
Toshio Kimura  Actor 
Sammuel Leung  Actor 
Takashi Miyake  Actor 
Miwako Namie  Actor 
Ohko  Actor 
Junko Shinohara  Actor 
Eiichi Tanaka  Actor 
Kaoru Ueda  Actor 
Woo Leung  Actor 
Chrissy Ann  Actor 
Andrew Chan  Actor 
Valerie Buchanon  Actor 
Wichert Dromkert  Actor 
Daishi Hori  Actor 
Bobsy Jureidini  Actor 
Kumi Komino  Actor 
Lu Jinhua  Actor 
Mrs. Lo  Actor 
Michell Leigh Nicholson  Actor 
Poon Wing Hong  Actor 
Makiko Shoji  Actor 
Hiromi Tani  Actor 
François Van Den Bergen  Actor 
Akiko Yokotani  Actor 
Miwako Kawai  Actor 
Tom Kane  Actor 
Mariko Ajimoto  Actor 
Tania De Jaeger  Actor 
Yuki Hayashi  Actor 
Aki Ishimaru  Actor 
Tatsuya Kimura  Actor 
Anita Pui Shan Leung  Actor 
Atsushi Miura  Actor 
Nguyen Duc Nhan  Actor 
Chizuru Ohnishi  Actor 
Kageyoshi Shirakata  Actor 
Miho Tanaka  Actor 
Hiroko Uno  Actor 
Wu Wei  Actor 
Ronald Guttman  Actor 
Akihiro Nishida  Actor 
Ryuko Azuma  Actor 
Dehong Chen  Actor 
Yutaka Honda  Actor 
Jo Jo Hui  Actor 
Fukue Kitaoka  Actor 
Li Chun Man  Actor 
Mr. Lo  Actor 
Masami Nishio  Actor 
Roger To Thanh Hien  Actor 
Shuen Ngar Lei  Actor 
Tien Sing Wang  Actor 
Lynne Frances Wachendorfer  Actor 
Atsuko Yoshikawa  Actor 
Jim-Adhi Limas  Actor 
Chau Lam  Actor 
Cham Ben  Actor 
Louis Yiu Shi Fu  Actor 
Tokiko Horiike  Actor 
Ai Kanafuji  Actor 
Seitaro Koyama  Actor 
Doris Lai Fong Lui  Actor 
Kintaro Murayama  Actor 
Yoshihiko Nagata  Actor 
Yuki Nou  Actor 
See Wah Leung  Actor 
Masakazu Takemura  Actor 
Kinya Tsuruyama  Actor 
Rick Waney  Actor 
Farini Chang  Actor 
Arnita Swanson  Actor 
Edelme Christanse  Actor 
Midori Hatsuda  Actor 
Seizo H. Inoue  Actor 
Kheim Lam  Actor 
Vanessa Lanza  Actor 
Kentaro Matsuo  Actor 
Atsuko Nakamura  Actor 
Yasuko Ogawa  Actor 
Yuko Shimomura  Actor 
Maskai Taketani  Actor 
Terence Tsin Chung Tung  Actor 
Tony Man Kit Wong  Actor 
Brian Eno  Composer (Music Score) 
Terry Glinwood  Executive Producer 
Peter Greenaway  Director 
Peter Greenaway  Screenwriter 
Kees Kasander  Producer 
Jean-Louis Piel  Executive Producer 
Denis Wigman  Executive Producer 
Vivian Wu  Actor 
Ewan McGregor  Actor 
Yoshi Oida  Actor 
Ken Ogata  Actor 
Hideko Yoshida  Actor 
Judy Ongg  Actor 

Country: France,Netherlands,UK