The Pillow Book

Beautiful to behold and impossible to forget, The Pillow Book is auteur Peter Greenaway's erotically-charged homage to the art of calligraphy and the indelible nature of even our earliest memories. As a young girl, Nagiko (Vivan Wu) became her father's canvas each year on her birthday, as he'd paint on her face and neck the creation myth in elaborate, elegant calligraphy. As a young woman, she finds pleasure in continuing the practice with a succession of lovers, particularly a bisexual translator (Ewan McGregor) who becomes a pawn in an escalating game of revenge on the publisher who once exploited her beloved father's hard work.