An arresting Japanese model seeks to indulge her fantasy of having calligraphy inked on her body, a whim based partly on her father's habit of painting poetry on her face when she was a girl and partly on readings from the 10th-century erotica tome "The Pillow Book." But the tables are turned when she meets a bisexual English translator who wants to be her canvas instead. An assault on the senses in the best Greenaway tradition, featuring frames-within-frames, elaborate costuming and production design, painterly shot composition, and utterly frank scenes of nudity and violence.
DVD Features:
Region 1 Encoding
Interactive Menus
Theatrical Trailer
Scene Selections
Costume Designer
Dien van Straalen:
Costume Designer
Koji Tatsuno:
Costume Designer
Martin Margiela:
Director of Photography
Sacha Vierny: Director of Photography
Production Designer
Andree Putman:
Production Designer
Emi Wada: Costume Designer, HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS (2004)
Production Designer
Wilbert Van Dorp: Production Designer
Costume Designer
Emi Wada: Costume Designer, HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS (2004)
Review 1:
"...Breathtaking...Erotic...Curiously moving..."
Source: Sight and Sound
p.57-8 11/01/1996
Review 2:
"...Enormously impressive....[A] uniquely bold and arresting depiction of exotic erotica..."
Source: Variety
05/20/1996
Review 3:
"...[An] eye-feast..."
Source: Film Comment
p.2-12 07/01/1996
Review 4:
"...It's a true erotic caprice..."
Source: Entertainment Weekly
p.43 06/20/1997
Review 5:
"...A richly sensual stylistic exercise filled with audaciously beautiful imagery....THE PILLOW BOOK has been stunningly photographed..."
Source: New York Times
p.C10 06/06/1997
Review 6:
"...A seductive and elegant story..."
Source: Chicago Sun-Times
p.25 08/31/1997