The Pillow Book

'The Pillow Book is a film directed by Peter Greenaway. The film stars Vivian Wu as Nagiko, a Japanese model in search of pleasure and new cultural experience from various lovers.

Plot
The film's title, "The Pillow Book", refers to an ancient Japanese diary, the book of observations by Sei Shōnagon, actual name believed to be Kiyohara Nagiko, from whence the protagonist's name in the film.

The film is narrated by Nagiko, a Japanese born model living in Hong Kong. Nagiko 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 in Kyoto, when her father would write characters of good fortune on her face. Nagiko's father celebrates her birthday retelling the Japanese creation myth and writing on her flesh in beautiful calligraphy, while her aunt reads a list of "beautiful things" from Sei Shōnagon's the book of observations. Nagiko's aunt tells her that when she is twenty-eight years old, the official book of observations will be officially 1000 years old, and that she, Nagiko, will be the same age as Sei Shōnagon when she had written the book (in addition to sharing her first name). Nagiko also learns around this time that her father is in thrall to his publisher. "Yaji-san", who demands sexual favors from her father in exchange for publishing his work.

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Cast

 * Vivian Wu ... Nagiko
 * Yoshi Oida ... The Publisher
 * Ken Ogata ... The Father
 * Hideko Yoshida ... The Aunt / The Maid
 * Ewan McGregor ... Jerome
 * Judy Ongg ... The Mother
 * Ken Mitsuishi ... The Husband
 * Yutaka Honda ... Hoki
 * Barbara Lott ... Jerome's Mother
 * Miwako Kawai ... Young Nagiko
 * Lynne Langdon ... Jerome's sister (as Lynne Frances Wachendorfer)
 * Chizuru Ohnishi ... Young Nagiko
 * Shiho Takamatsu ... Young Nagiko
 * Aki Ishimaru ... Young Nagiko

Trivia

 * 1) The Pillow Book was the first Lionsgate Film released.