Rating: 
Summary: Another fine Greenaway film
Review: I'm sort of a fan of Greenaway's although I didn't know it, since I found out that I'd liked two of his other films but had never paid attention to who the filmaker was. This one was recommended to me so I tried it.Although I didn't like this quite as much as the ones I'd seen previously, which were "The Cook, the Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover," and "The Draughtsman's Contract," I still enjoyed it, as I can still appreciate the surprisingly varied creativity and artistry Greenaway brings to the silver screen. I suspect the eclectic symbolism in the movie, as Greenaway combines art, architecture, photography, and even mathematics along with the calligraphy aspect, will probably elude most people. But the movie itself cleverly becomes a sort of a "Pillowbook" as the woman character flits from lover to lover trying to find one who is as good a calligrapher as he is a lover, and can cover her body with beautiful calligraphy to keep her father's tradition alive. As usual with Greenaway films, there is a dark side to this, as in the relationship between her father and his publisher, who is blackmailing her father (although "black-balling" might be a more appropriate term) but the main focus is on the Vivian Wu character, who finally encounters Ewan McGregor (who I recalled as the young Obiwan Kenobe from the Star Wars sequel). McGregor becomes the means to her revenge when she creates a beautiful love poem on McGregor's body for the unscrupulous publisher. Overall, another sensual, erotic, and thoughtful film from Greenaway that should delight his fans once more.
Rating: 
Summary: A disgrace
Review: It's a disgrace. Nudity from beginning to end. Particularly from that Ewan boy and Vivian Wu. What's there to complain about? Still, a nice idea, only spoiled by some cinetmatography that's not up to the standard we expect from Greenaway movies, particularly in the Hong Kong sequences. "The Cook, the thief...." is better.
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful!
Review: I had heard about this movie for a long time and finally saw it. It completely blew my mind! This is by far the most visually entrancing movie I've ever seen. I love the pace, the music, the bizarre story, the colors, everything. Beautiful cast, interesting use of nudity (got the entire penis size spectrum in there I think), and there was that same quirky surrealism that I found in "The Cook, etc. etc." Not to mention I love calligraphy, so this as a special treat.
A warning, though: If you can't handle artsy stuff then don't bother. I recommended it to a very intelligent but non-artsy friend and she just didn't get it.
Rating:
Summary: The Word Made Flesh
Review: The Pillow Book is a rare film that transcends limitations of film and text in a unique handling by auteur Peter Greenaway. Based loosely on the tenth century writings of Sei Shonagon, Greenaway brings to the screen a rich visual amalgam that relies on stunning settings, the physical beauty of actors Vivian Wu and Ewan McGregor, and the joy of ancient and modern systems of writing that is calligraphy. Greenaway's penchant for incorporating art, numbers, books, and architecture in a filmic medium ensure those who enjoy his style will not be disappointed. As a young child, Wu's character has celebrated her birthday's by having her father write the story of creation on her face in a family ritual celebration. However, with adulthood and marriage, her spouse is neither interested nor willing to continue her tradition. Frustrated at her inability to find a lover who is a good calligrapher, or a calligrapher who is a good lover, Wu finally meets a bi-sexual translator, Jerome (McGregor) who offers himself to Wu as a living surface for her erotic creativity. Inspired by the opportunity to obtain revenge on the publisher who blackmailed her father and is Jerome's lover, Wu's character, Nagiko creates the ultimate love poem illuminated in red, gold and black characters and delivered to the publisher on the naked body of Jerome. The Pillow Book is adult eroticism at it's most sensuous and visual best. It is a story that revels in binaries of profane and grotesque, yet delights the eye with Greenaway's ability to translate a vision of love and horror into a singular statement of lush physical beauty and sexuality.
Rating:
Summary: A Finely Created Work of Art
Review: I happen to be a great admirer of the controversial Mr Greenaway. I think his direction in film is bold and produces powerful results. The Pillow Book is a great example of this talent. It is an amazing combination of his narrative technique, experimental explorations and talent for finding compelling stories. The images are beautiful, especially the shot of Vivian Wu standing in the rain covered with writing on her flesh which slowly melts away. Her character is not that complex, but the action of the story is sufficient to carry her along throughout the tale as she fights for independence and a suitable form of artistic expression. Essentially the story is about the fetishisation of books and sex. These things are enough to make a great movie in my mind. Nagiko is a girl who goes through a ritual where her father writes on her back on her birthday as he tells her of a myth. After burning her way out of a suffocating marriage, she grows up to become a radical artist writing on bodies and searching for a man who can replace her father in the birthday tradition. She meets a talented man named Jerome who she falls in love with, but is eventually sacrificed to her father's old enemy. In the course of the narrative she writes her own Pillow Book on a series of men. It culminates in a gruesome act of jealousy and revenge (a notion not foreign to Greenaway's narratives). The scene of Jerome's suicide is particularly powerful and works well with the screen-in-screen shots because it shows in one shot the sequence between thought and action, self-perception and actual action. This is a new style for Greenaway that works tremendously well in this movie because it fits so well with the egotism and self-obsession of the characters involved. The movie as a whole is a powerful evocation of a great Japanese classic. I highly recommend this movie who is in the mood to watch something eccentric, visually moving and stunningly beautiful.
Rating:
Summary: A breathtakingly magnificent visual experience!
Review: THE PILLOW BOOK goes where few films have dared. Peter Greenaway is a unique artist and has created a touching story in a cinematic technique that is clearly his own. Simply stated, The Pillow Book is a journal kept by Japanese women who write private thoughts about desire, beauty, sensuality, and the moments in life that are indescribably unforgetable. In this story we see the unfolding of the life of a daughter of a calligrapher/writer who is able to provide for this beloved family and all their traditions by his assignations with his publisher. The child is taught her father's skills, each birthday having her father write the story of creation on her face, signed by 'god' on her back. This 'writing on the body' is eventually the means of gaining revenge on her father's demeaning publisher: she searches for the perfect lover (one who can make love as well as write beautifully in calligraphy) only to find a British translator (who happens to be the lover of her publisher)who encourages the girl to write her uniquely original books on his body - the matrix for delivery of her book to the publisher, a man who otherwise has rejected her gifts. To reveal the ending would spoil the mesmerizing intrigue of the film. Suffice it to say that love and honor eventually triumph... The techniques of cinematic magic include the simultneous use of Black and White photogrpahy with Color photography, screens within screens, still life within motion, the wonder of observing Japanese writing, the use of written scrolls superimposed on moments of story telling. Greenaway is one of the very few directors who is unafraid of frontal nudity. He has the beauty of Vivian Wu and Ewan McGregor which he paints sensually, allowing the camera to view the entire body being adorned both with calligraphy and with love making. But seeing is believing and for those who thirst for originality in art, for adoration of the human form, for sensitive story telling with a subject that is wholly unique, then this film is a MUST.
THE PILLOW BOOK should be in the art library of all art lovers.
Rating:
Summary: Beauty and obsession
Review: Two of the most beautiful things in the world are the written word and the human figure. Even the ones that are not special in themselves embody meaning and subtlety. When Greenaway uses the figure to carry words, he creates imagery that can not be forgotten. There is so much in this movie that I hardly know where to begin. It starts with a child. Her father's birthday ritual is to tell her a story, always the same one, and to paint calligraphy on her face. Maybe it's a little silly, but it's sweet and loving. Over time, the girl loses her innocence but gains the strength of adulthood. Her memory of that charming ritual develops, too. First, it loses its childhood innocence; it becomes a passion for her, and the standard by which she measures her lovers. In the end, the ritual gains even more strength and becomes the vehicle for a deadly obsession. I must warn the potential viewer that the movie's second half goes places far beyond where sanity stops. It is not for people with tender sensibilities. I'll come back to this movie for it sensual beauty. I won't come back too often, though. The raw rage at the end is just too hard.
Rating: 
Summary: Ridiculously overrated
Review: A director tosses in some "artful" shots and full nudity for most of the movie and suddenly it's a "beautiful film"???
I kept expecting to see Marilyn Chambers pop up in scenes. I'm not against T&A flicks, but this is trying to be something it isn't, which is sad and pathetic. It's a cheap trashy film that gets a good reputation b/c of who directed it.
Rating: 
Summary: WTF???
Review: This movie made no sense to me whatsoever. Hated it.
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful!
Review: Lovely. When you're finished with this film you really feel like you've been somewhere.
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