‘Pillow Book’ Sensual, Revolting At Same Time

There are some filmmakers whose work arouses such passion - either negative or positive - that the very mention of their names is enough to provoke both cheers and jeers.

Peter Greenaway has such a name. By directing films with trademark themes and style - “The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover,” “Prospero’s Books” and “Drowning By Numbers,” just to name a few - Greenaway has revolted as many moviegoers as he has enthralled.

This is to his credit. If nothing else, Greenaway doesn’t waste his time trying to give the world what it doesn’t need - say, another Chris Farley comedy.

Of course, much of what he does work to create may be, thematically at least, of no greater value. There are only so many ways to explore the erotic landscape surrounding love, sensuality and the struggle for sexual dominance.

Case in point: “The Pillow Book.”

Set in Japan, the film involves Nagiko (Vivian Wu), the young daughter of a loving Japanese novelist, who is obsessed with the one means by which her father would demonstrate his affections - that is, by emulating the face-painting he would do for her every birthday.

Somewhere along the way, though - and maybe it is early on when she sees her father being sexually assaulted by his publisher - she begins associating body drawing and sex. So she starts having others draw on her.

Then, instigated by an English translator (Ewan McGregor), she starts drawing on herself. Spurred on by the translator’s betrayal, notably with the same publisher who had taken advantage of her father (and who had refused to publish her own writing), Nagiko eventually begins writing a series of 13 books.

She uses as her canvas the bodies of men, each of whom she sends to the increasingly intrigued publisher. Finally, and far too late for him to stop it, he discovers her true purpose: revenge.

From a psychological point of view, “The Pillow Book” makes perfect sense. The kinds of obsessive traits that Nagiko displays fit perfectly into Greenaway’s worldview.

The problem is that he is far too in love with his own sense of style. “The Pillow Book” is never content merely to tell a story; instead, Greenaway uses a series of split screens and dueling images to study several aspects of the plot at once.

And since much of the movie dialogue is in Japanese, Greenaway - obviously for effect - resorts to English subtitles (the notable exception being a sequence near the end in which the publisher prepares himself to read Book 13, “The Book of the Dead”).

But even that’s not the worst part. Most of the acting, even by the popular McGregor (“Trainspotting,” “Emma”), feels amateurish. Greenaway doesn’t help matters any by always opting for an overexcited emotional reaction or graphic (often gross) images such as the licking of palms, full frontal male nudity and the skinning of a corpse.

Greenaway clearly can’t leave well enough alone. He can’t just tell a story; he has to revel in the telling of a lewd tale revealed in a style that never lets us forget who the author is.

So be prepared: If you’re a fan of overheated, excitable, provocative and intentionally erotic cinema, then this is the film for you. In any event, it is a visual feast.

Otherwise, it’s jaw-droppingly awful.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: “The Pillow Book” Locations: Magic Lantern Cinemas Credits: Directed by Peter Greenaway, starring Vivian Wu, Ewan McGregor, Yoshi Oida, Ken Ogata, Hideko Yoshida, Judy Ongg, Ken Mitsuishi, Yukata Honda, Barbara Lott. Running time: 2:03 Rating: Not rated.