The Pillow Book (film)
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| The Pillow Book | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Peter Greenaway |
| Produced by | Kees Kasander |
| Written by | Peter Greenaway |
| Starring | Vivian Wu Ewan McGregor Ken Ogata Yoshi Oida Hideko Yoshida Judy Ongg |
| Cinematography | Sacha Vierny |
| Editing by | Peter Greenaway Chris Wyatt |
| Release date(s) | June 6, 1996 (USA) November 8, 1996 (UK) |
| Running time | 126 min |
| Language | English |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
The Pillow Book is a 1996 film by UK director Peter Greenaway, which stars Vivian Wu as Nagiko, a Japanese model in search of pleasure and new cultural experience from various lovers. The film is a rich and artistic melding of dark modern drama with idealized Chinese and Japanese cultural themes and settings.
It co-stars Ewan McGregor as Jerome, an English translator who becomes Nagiko's favourite lover. Greenaway also wrote the screenplay, in addition to directing.
[edit] Plot
A Japanese born model in Hong Kong, Nagiko (Wu) seeks a lover who can match her desire for carnal pleasure with her admiration for poetry and calligraphy. The roots of this obsession lie in her youth, when her father (Ken Ogata) would write characters of good fortune on her face. In an Englishman, Jerome (McGregor), she finds the partner with whom she can share her physical and her poetic passion, using each other's bodies as tablets for their art.
Later, Nagiko rejects Jerome out of jealousy for fear that he has rejected her for her father's publisher (see below). She wanted her work published but it was rejected by her father's enemy and former publisher, with whom Jerome had homosexual relations in the past. Jerome was to "persuade" the publisher to publish her works since they had a former relationship. During this "persuasion", Jerome appears to lose track of time and doesn't return to Nagiko, which she takes as rejection and betrayal of the worst kind, and refuses to meet him again. Jerome sinks into depression and meets with Nagiko's friend, a photographer, desperate to find a way to get her to forgive him. Nagiko's friend suggests that he take some pills and knock himself out, similar to the fake death scene in Romeo and Juliet. Jerome takes the pills, overdoses and kills himself in her home. When Nagiko comes home and finds Jerome dead she is devastated, and realizes how much she loved him. However, she does write Book 5 on his skin: The Book of the Lover. After the funeral, the publisher, who was also in love with Jerome, steals the body from the tomb and has Jerome's skin, still bearing the writing, made into an actual book. Nagiko, now back in Japan, becomes distraught and seeks to recover that particular book from the publisher's hands, by sending him Japanese men on which she has written the following books (6-13).
The title, "The Pillow Book", refers to a medieval Japanese diary, the book of observations by Sei Shōnagon. In this film, Nagiko records her own musings on the bodies of various men, including Jerome. Upon recovering the book made out of Jerome's skin, Nagiko buries it under a Bonsai tree and life goes on. She is revealed to have been pregnant with Jerome's child, and is shown in the epilogue writing on her child's face, like her father used to do when she was young, and quoting from her own pillow book.
Nagiko's bi-cultural heritage plays a key role in this film. As a half-Chinese and half-Japanese woman, Nagiko navigates her dual cultures through physical and psychological exploration. Greenaway portrays this exploration subtly by mixing and switching Asian iconography.
[edit] Soundtrack
- Autopsia-Colonia CD Including main theme from The Pillow Book film, Staalplaat
Source: The International Movie Database [1]
- "Offering to the Saviour Gompo"
Performed by Buddhist Lamas & Monks of the Four Great Orders
Courtesy of Lyrichord Disks New York
- "A Buddhist Prayer"
Performed by Buddhist Lamas & Monks of the Four Great Orders
Courtesy of Lyrichord Disks New York
- "Invocations of Gompo"
Performed by Buddhist Lamas & Monks of the Four Great Orders
Courtesy of Lyrichord Disks New York
- "Ranryo Ou"
Court music of Japan Performed by Tokyo Gasuko
Courtesy of Victor Entertainment
- "Nasori"
Court music of Japan Performed by Tokyo Gasuko
Courtesy of Victor Entertainment
- "Manzairaku"
Court music of Japan Performed by Tokyo Gasuko
Courtesy of Victor Entertainment
- "Wedding Song"
Performed by A Village Ensemble, Aqcha, Afghanistan
Courtesy of Topic Records Lrd
- "Blonde"
Performed by Guesch Patti & E. Daho
Courtesy of EMI Music Publishing France SA
- "La Marquise"
Performed by Guesch Patti & Dimitri Tikovoi
Courtesy of EMI Music Publishing France SA
- "La Chinoise"
Performed by Guesch Patti & Dimitri Tikovoi
Courtesy of EMI Music Publishing France SA
- "Taimu-Mashin no nai Jidai"
Performed by Cawai Miwako
Courtesy of Fun house Publihsers, Inc
- "Daddy's Gonna Pay For Your Crashed Car"
Written by U2 Performed by U2
Courtesy of Polygram International
- "Sinfonia Concertante in A Fur Violine, Viola, Violoncello und Orchester"
Written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, reconstructor Shigeaki Saegusa Performed by Mozarteum Orchester Salzburg, conductor Hans Guraf
Courtesy of May Music, Japan
- "Valse"
extract from The Frist String Quartet "La Theorie" Written by Walter Hus Performed by Quadro Quartet
Courtesy of Het Gerucht / Uncle Dan's
- "Je Suis La Resurrection"
Performed by Autopsia
Courtesy of Hypnobeat Records
- "Ai no Meguriai"
Performed by Judy Ongg
Courtesy of Nichion
- "Qui Tolis"
Extract from "Rome" Written by Patrick Mimran Performed by James Bowman
Courtesy of Wisteria Publishing, Amsterdam
- "Rose, Rose I Love You"
Performed by Yao Lee
Courtesy of EMI SE Asia Ltd
- "Teki Wa Ikuman"
Performed by Ichjiro Wakahar
Courtesy of King Records
- "Aiba Shingun-ka"
Performed by Hachiro Kasuga
Courtesy of King Records
- "Chicken Bandit-The-Blistered-Corn"
Performed by Lam Man Chun and Eric Tsang
Courtesy of New Melody Publishing/Bird and Child Ltd
- "Suiren"
Performed by Yasuaki Shimizu
Courtesy of Nippon Columbia Berlin
