Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Dense
- Violence
- Mild
- sensual
- intense
- dreamy
- arthouse film night
- literary cinema night
What critics said
Critics broadly found the film visually inventive and well performed, while its elaborate formalism divided viewers.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Nagiko's body, paper, books, and painted characters repeatedly become surfaces for storytelling and desire.
Greenaway uses superimposed images, elaborate title cards, split visual fields, and overlapping textual motifs.
Adult Nagiko's identity and erotic writing practice are shaped through recollections of her father's calligraphy and her aunt's reading.
Nagiko turns writing on bodies and the creation of her own book into an assertion of sexual and artistic selfhood.
Films like The Pillow Book, and why
The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover
shared erotic drama, literary themes, ornate visual design, and transgressive sexuality
Prospero's Books
shared Greenaway maximalism, formal experimentation, sexuality, and theatrical imagery
In the Mood for Love
shared sensual art-house romance, fragmented identity, and East Asian cultural context
Hiroshima Mon Amour
shared literary sensuality, calligraphy, gendered desire, and visually stylized romance
Movie Details
- Director
- Peter Greenaway
- Release Date
- 1995-09-01
- Runtime
- 126 min
- Rating
- 6.4 / 10 (191)
Cast
- Vivian Wu
- Yoshi Oida
- Ken Ogata
- Hideko Yoshida
- Ewan McGregor
- Yutaka Honda
- Judy Ongg
- Ken Mitsuishi
- Barbara Lott
- Lynne Langdon
Where to watch in United States
- Rent
- Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is The Pillow Book about?
- A sensuous, formally audacious meditation on calligraphy, desire, and artistic self-invention across generations and cultures.
- What is The Pillow Book like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Pillow Book as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as dense.
- Is The Pillow Book violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in The Pillow Book as mild.
- What did critics think of The Pillow Book?
- Critics broadly found the film visually inventive and well performed, while its elaborate formalism divided viewers.
- Which films are like The Pillow Book?
- Films with a similar feel include The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover, Prospero's Books, In the Mood for Love, and Hiroshima Mon Amour.
- How long is The Pillow Book?
- The Pillow Book runs 126 minutes.
- Where can I watch The Pillow Book?
- In United States, The Pillow Book is available to rent or buy from Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home.
