The Pillow Book

Released Jun 6, 1996

2h 3m

Romance

List

67%

55 Reviews

Tomatometer

80%

10,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

A Japanese model (Vivian Wu) who likes lovers to adorn her body with calligraphy falls for an erotic Englishman (Ewan McGregor).

Read More

Read Less

Watch on Fandango at Home

Premiered Mar 27

Buy Now

Fandango at Home

Rent The Pillow Book on Fandango at Home, or buy it on Fandango at Home.

Critics Consensus

The Pillow Book is undeniably sensual and visually ravishing, but the film's narrative lacks the hypnotic pull of its imagery.

Read Critics Reviews

Dave S

After watching Peter Greenaway's The Pillow Book, you can't help but get the feeling that Greenaway is speaking a totally different cinematic language or, at the very least, trying to create a new cinematic language. While the plot, characters, and themes presented are all obviously important, it is the visual presentation in The Pillow Book that really stands out – frames within frames, constantly shifting aspect ratios, superimposed images, and more, to the point where it can feel overwhelming at times, despite its undeniable beauty. This is not a movie for all tastes and, strangely enough, might be more appreciated if the film is read about before being viewed, giving the viewer a better chance in understanding what the hell is going on and, more importantly, why the film looks the way it does, which can be a distraction for an unsuspecting audience during a first viewing.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/08/24

Full Review

jeanieforever

Waiting for this to come out in 3D.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

12/05/23

Full Review

Roy M

already a Greenaway fan, and a bibliophile to boot, so heavily biased. what surprised me was that this film, by Greenaway standards, had a happy ending. many might find it narrow in interest, or predictable in results, or too slow. but I found it in the Cinderella zone to my interests... just right. not one of Greenaway's great auteur visions, but I liked it.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/09/23

Full Review

Audience Member

The cinematic/visual style from Greenaway alone makes this so amusing to watch unravel. Almost like silk in cinematic format.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/20/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I loved this movie!!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

05/01/22

Full Review

William L

A really interesting premise and a plot that gradually grows more interesting as time passes - a publisher that finds himself increasingly obsessed with books that arrive from an unknown source, each painted on a live human body (and that's a gross oversimplification). Despite all that, The Pillow Book is so alienating in its style, feeling massively pretentious and stuffy as it establishes its main character's particular fascination with calligraphy on her own skin, and tying that practice in with her own sexuality; it's unconventional, reimagining aesthetics and texture for the purposes of its unique narrative hook, but if I said I enjoyed any of that experimentation I'd be lying. The plot itself is miles more engaging and well thought-out than the inconsistent, 'different-for-the-sake-of-being-different' visual composition, I wish Greenaway had left some of his auteurism at home and taken a bit of a more traditional approach with this one. The Pillow Book is bizarre; it's easy to imagine why fans will like the more distinctive elements, but they just weren't for me. Props for originality, but not as much for the quality of the experience. (2.5/5)

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/16/22

Full Review

Read all reviews

Post a rating

Peter Greenaway

Director

Vivian Wu

Nagiko

Ewan McGregor

Jerome

Yoshi Oida

The Publisher

Ken Ogata

The Father

Hideko Yoshida

The Aunt

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

71%

58%

A Month by the Lake

88%

67%

Thousand Pieces of Gold

91%

89%

Shall We Dance?

70%

78%

Madame Butterfly

28%

76%

Swept From the Sea

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

The Path Season 2, Rosemary’s Baby, and More Available to Stream This Week

Teaser Time for "Resident Evil: Extinction"

Greenaway Paints Rembrandt Biopic

View more photos

Lisa Alspector

Chicago Reader

One of the most accomplished chapters in Peter Greenaway's quest to turn movies into books, this may be the writer-director's metaphorical autobiography.

May 2, 2016

Full Review

Richard Corliss

TIME Magazine

In The Pillow Book, text and texture meet so exquisitely. Sex is a visual art, Greenaway says, and writing is a matter of life and death.

May 2, 2016

Full Review

Jami Bernard

New York Daily News

It is exciting that in an age of mass book signings and disrespect for literature, Greenaway is able to sexualize the author's signature as it sweeps up a woman's neck.

Rated: 3/4

May 2, 2016

Full Review

Michael Atkinson

Spin

Greenaway makes movies like no other human being, and The Pillow Book is rarely satisfied with a single image. It uses overlapping subframes, trace images, and hieroglyphs, dissolving in and out of view like a picture-in-picture TV screen gone lyrical.

Dec 27, 2022

Full Review

Nicholas Bell

IONCINEMA.com

As intricately assembled as all of Greenaway's works, and representing one of the last films from famed DoP Sacha Vierney, The Pillow Book is worthy of a revisit, easily existing within its own timeless universe.

Rated: 3/5

Oct 27, 2020

Full Review

Leah Rozen

People Magazine

Greenaway provides a visual feast, then he kills your appetite.

May 2, 2016

Full Review

Read all reviews

Synopsis

A Japanese model (Vivian Wu) who likes lovers to adorn her body with calligraphy falls for an erotic Englishman (Ewan McGregor).

Director: Peter Greenaway
Producer: Terry Glinwood, Jean-Louis Piel, Tom Reeve, Denis Wigman
Screenwriter: Sei Shonagon, Peter Greenaway
Distributor: Columbia Tristar
Production Co: Delux Productions, Channel Four Films, Kasander Film Company, Alpha Films, Euroimages Fund of the Council of Europe, Woodline Productions, Canal Plus
Genre: Romance
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 6, 1996, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 10, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $2.4M
Runtime: 2h 3m
Sound Mix: Dolby, Surround
Aspect Ratio: 35mm

Most Popular at Home Now