The Pillow Book

'The Pillow Book' is a devotional tribute to a special Japanese aesthetic and erotic pleasure. The film tells about the girl Nagiko, who has her father for every birthday paint a poem from the “Pillowbook” on her forehead. As Nagiko grows up, her father stops the tradition and arranges a marriage for her. She lives unsatisfactorily and instead gets a drain on her fantasies as a model, while letting her body be covered by wonderful calligraphed poems. A film that in 1996, in the light of Peter Greenaway's particular aesthetic, became a great topic of conversation. Greenaway's background as a painter and art historian punctuates every frame of the film.

Directed by: Peter Greenaway
Starring: Vivian Wu, Ewan McGregor, Yoshi Oida, Ken Ogata
Country/year: France, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Luxembourg, 1996
Running time: 126 min.
Formato: 35mm
Language: Danish subtitles
Age limit: Allowed for children over 15

Part of the series: Back to 1996
Cinemateket turns 30 — we turn back the clock and invite you on a time trip back to 1996. Because in addition to being the year we opened the doors of Cinemateket in Gothersgade 55, 1996 was also a fabulous film year.