The Pillow Book (1996)

As a young girl in Japan, Nagiko's father paints characters on her face, and her aunt reads to her from "The Pillow Book", the diary of a 10th-century lady-in-waiting. Nagiko grows up, ... See full summary »

Director:

Peter Greenaway

Writers:

Sei Shonagon (book), Peter Greenaway,

Stars:

Vivian Wu, Ewan McGregor, Yoshi Oida

5 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

As a young girl in Japan, Nagiko's father paints characters on her face, and her aunt reads to her from "The Pillow Book", the diary of a 10th-century lady-in-waiting. Nagiko grows up, obsessed with books, papers, and writing on bodies, and her sexual odyssey (and the creation of her own Pillow Book) is a "parfait mélange" of classical Japanese, modern Chinese, and Western film images.

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Plot Keywords:

book | paper | paint | chinese | japan | 

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Taglines:

From the creator of The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover comes a sensuous tale of passion, obsession and revenge.

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Netherlands UK France Luxembourg

Language:

English Cantonese Italian Japanese Mandarin French

Release Date:

6 June 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

O Livro de Cabeceira

Filming Locations:

Japan

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$105,922 (USA) (6 June 1997)

Gross:

$2,293,037 (USA) (15 August 1997)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Kasander & Wigman Productions, Woodline Films Ltd., Alpha Film Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

126 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Dolby SR

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.75 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Much of the film is in Japanese, and some of the English subtitles appear to be intentionally incorrect or missing, in the spirit of "language play" or "the Tower of Babel". (Confirmed by director Peter Greenaway at a talk at the San Francisco Film Festival.)

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Goofs

Nagiko says early on that her mother taught her Mandarin. Later, she says that she went to Hong Kong to improve the Chinese her mother taught her. However, the majority of people in Hong Kong speak Cantonese, not Mandarin.

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Quotes

Nagiko: Anything coloured Indigo is splendid; Indigo coloured flowers, Indigo thread, and especially indigo paper.

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Connections

Referenced in Peter Greenaway in Indianapolis (1997)

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Soundtracks

A Buddhist Prayer
"
Performed by Buddhist Lamas & Monks of the Four Great Orders
Courtesy of Lyrichord Disks New York

User Reviews

Visually Stunning

Erotic, seductive, intellectual, visually stunning film. The painted calligraphy on skin was amazingly sensuous.

I couldn't force myself to watch '8 1/2 Women' which was my first Greenway film, so I hoped against my better judgment that this movie would be different -- and it was. I've read reviews that say this movie moves slow, but I didn't feel that at all. I think the character introspection is very important - I felt I knew Nagito. I understood her desire, her confusion and her pain. The ending is beautifully done

• Nagito is the perfect tragic heroine. This is a must see for anyone

looking for a sensual erotic film; unlike most you have seen before.