Solidrariol Am I Missing Something?

Ariella Broughton It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

Leoni Haney Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

Ella-May O'Brien Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Kirpianuscus the poetry of image. and words and gestures. subtle, cold, delicate, brutal, strange, seductive, intense, convincing, mysterious. letters and a book.sensuality. and the trip in a world so different to be more than phantasm. the poetry of a meet and the roots of a relationship. and the forms of faiths. in force of writing, in sensuality of a bizarre ritual, in the other, in the purpose of skin as paper for words who becomes sacred. it is not easy to define the air of this special film. an art film. it is not enough. a masterpiece. many viewers are far to give this definition. a beautiful film by a great not comfortable director. it could be a decent explanation. but not the most inspired. because to see it is a kind of game. the joy of play is superior to the victory.

WILLIAM FLANIGAN Viewed on DVD. Restoration = ten (10) stars; calligraphy = eight (8) stars; subtitles/translation = three (3) stars. Director Peter Greenaway delivers a one trick pony of nudity and calligraphy with bolt-on snippets from a famous historical document. Photographing the lead actress and actor in full front, back, and side nudity covered with great to nearly-great Japanese writing may be a bit shocking (and a major attraction for voyeurs) the first time around, but rapidly becomes boring, as the Director seems to have no place to go from there (and his actors certainly have no more anatomy to expose) except to do this over and over again. Greenaway tries to inject some energy into an under nourished production with jump-cut editing (he is also credited as being an editor), adding random shots (that may contain unexplained symbols?), and all manner of split screens and sub-screen inserts (mostly by re-using and re-using shots). The Director's feeble attempt to link his film to Shi Shounagon's (Shi Nagiko's?) diary that has miraculously survived (with translator/copier embellishments/mistakes) from the turn of the 11th Century is patently contrived (and particularly hilarious if you have read MAKURA NO SOUSHI ("notes of a pillow")!). The plot calls for the female protagonist to write about a dozen books and deliver same to a debauched publisher. Since each "book" is written on all or part of a single male's body (two bodies are used to deliver one of the "books"), it would seem that insufficient male anatomy exists for more than a page or two without employing a small army of nude male couriers. (Perhaps a more apt film title might be "The Pillow Pamphlet"!) Acting is okay. Cinematography (narrow to semi-wide screen, color) is fine except for some tiny window inserts. Subtitles and translations are pretty much a disaster. About 20 percent of line reading are not subtitled. Subtitle font color is white and hard to read against the numerous white backgrounds. Often subtitles appear before or after the dialogue occurs. Only a fraction of the calligraphy is translated. Song lyrics are translated into French (even when sung in French?) or not at all. Skip this soft-porn turkey and, instead, try to read the fascinating MAKURA NO SOUSHI in a literary translation (or, better still, in a literal translation if you can find one!). WILLIAM FLANIGAN, PhD.

gavin6942 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.I had no idea what to expect from this film, as it does not seem to be fairly well known, and a title like "Pillow Book" does not give a clear indication. What we have is pure art, captured on film. The calligraphy is gorgeous, even if I am unable to read it. And just the way the film is shot.What will stand out for many people is the large amount of male nudity. Ewan McGregor is naked for quite a bit of the film, and he is not alone (though he is the only "name" actor). This was a brave, bold decision, although it likely caused the film to be released in fewer theaters than it should have been.

billcr12 The pillow book is 1,000 year old Asian journal of ancient philosophical writings. A six year old girl is read to by her mother from the pillow book and is told by her father to begin a diary of her own. Nagiko(Vivian Wu) is constantly having calligraphy done in ink, first on her face, then on her body. She is obsessed with having artists write on her skin and she draws her feelings on others.Peter Greenaway's use of picture in picture images is a distracting device and the plot is fairly simplistic with Nagiko's search for partners willing to use her body as a canvas, even to the point of having the "Our Father" drawn onto her arm, chest and stomach; this is a very off-beat tale which features frequent nudity, both male and female. Greenaway's eye for images is sharp but the film is repetitive and needed to be shortened by at least 15 or 20 minutes. Vivian Wu is beautiful as Nagiko, the lead character and Ewan McGregor is always good.