The Pillow Book
1996 · Movie · NC-17 · 126 min · ★ 6.4 · 66% critics
A woman becomes obsessed with calligraphy after a childhood ritual of words painted on her skin. As an adult, she searches for intimacy and artistry at once, turning bodies into pages and trying to shape her own story through desire, writing, and a drive to settle old wounds.
Based on The Pillow Book
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Details
- Years
- 1996
- Release date
- 1995-09-01
- Language
- English
- Rated
- NC-17
- Runtime
- 126 min
- Critic score
- 66/100
- TMDB rating
- 6.4/10 (185 votes)
About
You’ll likely enjoy this if you want an erotic, art-forward drama about obsession, language, and the body as a canvas, with a deliberately unusual flow; Not for you if you need a clear, linear plot or minimal nudity, and it may appeal to fans of The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover.
Pros: striking visuals; bold sensual premise; inventive chapter structure | Cons: repetitive for some; confusing, non-linear story; uneven acting and dubbing
Themes
- adultery
- tokyo, japan
- based on memoir or autobiography
- calligraphy
- complex
- gay theme
- erotic romance
- intense
Awards & recognition
- Sitges Film Festival Best Feature-Length Film award · 1996
Cast & crew
Vivian Wu
as Nagiko
Yoshi Oida
as The Publisher
Ken Ogata
as The Father
Hideko Yoshida
as The Aunt / The Maid
Ewan McGregor
as Jerome
- YH
Yutaka Honda
as Hoki
Judy Ongg
as The Mother
Ken Mitsuishi
as The Husband
- BL
Barbara Lott
as Jerome's Mother
Lynne Langdon
as Jerome's sister
Directed by Peter Greenaway