The Pillow Book: Peter Greenaway

I almost dread watching Peter Greenaway's work because I've found that I'm quickly running out of ways that I can express my sheer amazement and admiration towards his work.  There are only so many words in the English language and the number that I haven't used in reviews of Greenaway's work is almost completely depleted.  But my curiosity towards his film entitled The Pillow Book finally got the better of me and now I must struggle to find underutilized words.  Greenaway's film is a kind of meta-adaptation of the famous book of observations of the same name by Japanese court lady Sei Shōnagon around 1000 AD.  The film follows a Japanese model named Nagiko who derives sexual pleasure from calligraphers writing on her body.  This fetish arose from a tradition when she was young where on her birthday her father would draw good luck characters on her face and upper back while her mother would read to her from the historical Pillow Book.  When she got older, she sought out famous calligraphers as lovers.  One of these was British translator Jerome (Ewan McGregor) who convinced her to try writing on other people's bodies.  However, through a tragic romantic misunderstanding, Jerome kills himself.  Nagiko, in her grief, decides to write her own Pillow Book based on her own life.  She writes 13 chapters of her Pillow Book on various models in different unusual circumstances before sending them to an evil publisher who blackmailed her father and Jerome for sex.  This is easily my favorite part of the film as it plays as a kind of philosophical answer to David Fincher's Se7en (1995).  For instance, the ninth chapter (The Book of Secrets) is delivered by a nude Buddhist monk with the text written in his "secret" spots, such as between his fingers, on his eyelids, and on the insides of his thighs.  Since Nagiko largely blames the publisher for her father's misery and Jerome's death, she uses the book to extract violent revenge against him.  This is a magnificent film that doesn't just mimic Japanese and calligraphic aesthetics but instead embodies them.  The first and third act of the film are absolutely riveting and transcendent in their execution and Kubrick-esque level of perfectionism. However, the second act which largely charts Nagiko's affair with Jerome is sadly lacking. For this section, the film largely wanders with no clearly defined destination.  Much of it plays like a music video. But the film's other strengths make up for this temporary lull in quality.  There simply isn't anything else quite like The Pillow Book.  To see it is an event.

9/10