Peter Grenaway has carried out a very interesting, controversial and original movie, in which he actually keeps the viewer wondering what'll happen to the movie's characters, especially Ewan Macgregor's who surely gave the most challenging performance of his career, since many privileged actors would be embarrassed or would turn down the part that Ewan had in this movie. Ewan Macgregor gives a very complex and interesting performance, he is not embarrassed to be totally naked and to have mild sex scenes with both a woman and a man, in this case Nagiko, and the editor! Ewan has showed the viewers he's not ashamed to do whatever the character requires him to do, in this case frontal nudes and as I mentioned earlier, love scenes with another man. I found Ewan Macgregor convincing for the part because he was really serious about what he was doing. He knew he wasn't simply acting for a rude movie, but an artistic one. With `The Pillow Book' he has demonstrated great range!. The way this film shows Japanese culture is outstanding; it makes us learn more about other cultures. I found this film very informative about the people in Japan and what their culture is like. The plot of "The Pillow Book" is very original; it shows a lot of nudes, written bodies and flashy ways to write on skin. Those are some of the reasons why Peter Grenaway should be acclaimed. This is not a film you see everyday. I'm sure Peter Grenaway worked hard to carry out this artistic film. It's not easy to find lead actors who want to do frontal nudes or have sex scenes with other men. Neither is it easy to write a screenplay for this complex movie.
I must stress that the musical score was not well chosen. At the beginning of the movie we listened to a somewhat terrifying music, but over the course of the movie there were happy melodies that were not supposed to be there, especially at the end, a ridiculous happy music is played. Was it a comedy movie? A comical music has nothing to do with this movie, since it's a drama and artistic movie, which makes people think.
This is a very original movie, I'd have never thought of a story like "The Pillow Book". Some people may find this movie rude because of the sexual and nudity content, but I found just what it is, artistic!
The movie was good overall, but there were some unbelievably ridiculous scenes. For instance when Jerome is dead, the old man cuts his skin, and begins kissing it, which I consider farfetched and unbelievably pointless.
I'd recommend this movie because of its interpretability and originality, nevertheless if you consider frontal nudity and some sex scenes rude or offensive, do not watch it, because you'll be extremely disturbed, otherwise try to know what an Art movie can do! 7/10
I must stress that the musical score was not well chosen. At the beginning of the movie we listened to a somewhat terrifying music, but over the course of the movie there were happy melodies that were not supposed to be there, especially at the end, a ridiculous happy music is played. Was it a comedy movie? A comical music has nothing to do with this movie, since it's a drama and artistic movie, which makes people think.
This is a very original movie, I'd have never thought of a story like "The Pillow Book". Some people may find this movie rude because of the sexual and nudity content, but I found just what it is, artistic!
The movie was good overall, but there were some unbelievably ridiculous scenes. For instance when Jerome is dead, the old man cuts his skin, and begins kissing it, which I consider farfetched and unbelievably pointless.
I'd recommend this movie because of its interpretability and originality, nevertheless if you consider frontal nudity and some sex scenes rude or offensive, do not watch it, because you'll be extremely disturbed, otherwise try to know what an Art movie can do! 7/10