From "The Zoo" to "The Chef, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover", Greenaway gives people the impression that his aesthetic taste is as cold as steel and cannot tolerate any sentimentality. As a director, Greenaway has been searching for his passion in harsh logic and blind violence, dissecting the world sharply. So it's hard to imagine that he actually showed warmth in "Forbidden Books on the Pillow". Although this film is as cold and intellectual as his previous works, the romantic and soft ending of the story makes people wonder if Grenada really wants to change his attitude towards the world.
As always, the forbidden books by the pillow are still surrounded by a typical sense of ceremony in Greenaway, but it seems to be unsuccessful. Calligraphy, as a clue to the story, has become a decoration. Especially for an oriental, the film's emphasis on calligraphy will not give people pleasure at all, but it is in danger of vulgarization. Obviously, this is Greenaway's misunderstanding of the East. He can't really understand the true spirit of the East. He can only be superficial and content with exotic self-comfort.
The narrative of this film is also mediocre and pretentious. Although the visual effect is soft and delicate, and a lot of overlapping montage effects are constructed, it is just something atmospheric, false, unnatural and full of pseudo-literary flavor. It seems that the actors climbed onto a bus and were enslaved by the conductor Greenaway, becoming a bunch of insincere symbols. Comparatively speaking, Greenaway's early films are more solid and powerful, and all kinds of film elements can be well integrated together, subverting the traditional film concept in his unique way, although there is suspicion of fighting nothingness with nothingness and fighting violence with violence.
About the director
Peter Greenaway 1942 was born in Wales, England. He studied at Moriyama College first, and then entered Forrest Art College in Waltham. Starting from the 1960s, he began to make his own highly experimental films. Greenaway's films have brought him great international fame, and also brought him extensive controversy: stylism, elitism, obscurantism, intellectual expressionism, misogyny, and all kinds of hats are put on his head.
Greenaway thinks that most films are empty and sentimental, including many experimental art films-these so-called art films, like mainstream Hollywood movies, are despised by Greenaway. Since the filming of 1982 The Painter's Contract, Greenaway has directed a series of visually subversive films, showing greed and darkness. His films are profound in content and diverse in forms, and the narrative grammar is quite different from the mainstream single way, which has irrefutable experimental and depth. Although it has not achieved good box office results, Greenaway has won a large number of loyal audiences.
Greenaway's most famous film is The Chef, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover, which ends with a thrilling human self-devouring, combining sex, nudity and sharp criticism of English Thatcherism, and can be called Kafka's satirical fable. This film is rude and deviant, and it has also caused great criticism in the United States. Together with philip kaufman's Henry and Joan and Pedro Almodovar's Tie Me Up, it was ranked in the infamous NC- 17 level, resulting in fanatical fans enjoying the film only in a few small theaters. Poké mon, filmed by 1993, broke through the limit of Greenaway, so it has not been shown commercially in the United States so far, and few people have seen this film.
A large number of carefully carved pictures show the oriental flavor of Japanese court life, and of course there are a large number of exquisite combinations of human body and calligraphy. Of course, the most special is the exhibition process of Chapter 13 "Human Calligraphy" and "Pillow Grass".
Film analysis
The film is based on the famous book Pillow Grass written by Qing, a female court official in Japan, with Yoko, a Japanese female calligrapher who writes on the human body as the protagonist, showing the oriental taste represented by the beauty of calligraphy, as well as the oppression and anti-oppression of the East. The plot development in the film is almost related to oriental calligraphy and pillow grass. Under the influence of his father, Nuozi accepted the calligraphy of the body and even thought it was the only calligraphy. Under the influence of her mother, Nuozi accepted the pillow grass and encouraged herself with modern modesty. The young Nozi was cultivated by the artistic conception and purport of oriental aesthetics. Nuozi was originally the recipient of body calligraphy, which is the fate of her oriental woman. The brush, which more or less symbolizes male sexual desire, has conquered the skin. This is the relationship between pen and paper, and also the relationship between men and women.
Nuozi set fire to her home after marriage, which is her resistance to patriarchy (the representative of patriarchy is the publisher, not her father) and husband's rights. After living independently, she gradually changed from "paper" to "pen" and became the master of her own life. And publishing her own "Pillow Book" has become Nuozi's behavior of challenging the secular, male chauvinism and herself. Xie Lang, her bisexual lover with the publishing house, became her first book. The writing and publication of the thirteen chapters of pillow grass in the film are quite similar to those of the seven deadly sins. Finally, after receiving the book Death Penalty, the publisher took his own life. It not only completed the victory of self-liberation, but also ended the continuation of patriarchy, and retaliated against the insult of patriarchy in a broad sense to his father. This is similar to the final ending of Greenaway in the famous movie The Chef, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover.
Greenaway, a famous British director, made many experimental short films in his early days, and later made films for British TV 4, flaunting an alternative style for a long time, so his films have always been famous for their unique styles and techniques. His painting experience as a student made his works pursue the exquisiteness and visual impact of the picture. These two points have been strengthened and integrated in the film "Pillow Book".
All Greenaway's films have bizarre plots, and this film is no exception. The plot that Nozzi wrote "Thirteen Chapters of Pillow Grass" on a human body and then handed it over to the publishing house is really incredible. Publishers are willing to give up their lives after reading the last chapter "The Book of the Death Penalty". These extremely stylized plots and details are unacceptable, but after Greenaway's more stylized picture performance, they show fascinating beauty. However, after the short-term visual beauty disappeared, everything in the film seemed so confusing in front of the empty screen.
The biggest feature of film shooting technique is the creative use of picture-in-picture technique. These small pictures with changeable shapes, positions and sizes have a variety of visual and structural relationships with the whole big picture, most of which are descriptions of small pictures in counterpoint to the big picture calligraphy, and many of them are memories, which also have movie language functions similar to overlapping pictures. Multi-functional and multi-level nesting and the juxtaposition of large and small pictures form a complex and changeable language style and picture expression, which is an experiment of film language conducted by Greenaway in the film.
What is the story of the film and what does it show? Although this is an essential element of a movie, it is definitely not the only one. The story of Greenaway's films has been relegated to a secondary position in front of a large number of exquisite pictures full of oriental sentiment and experimental film language, but it only provides them with a suitable carrier. Among many mainstream story films, the Pillow Grass by Greenaway shows us a wonderful and inspiring "alternative" film.
Banned Books by Pillow is based on the diaries of women who are separated from each other in two eras but have tacit understanding in their hearts. By using a lot of new computer technologies, the time of each era and time and space is unfolded on the same film plane in the form of "picture-in-picture", and unprecedented film grammar is excavated. Sometimes we obviously think that we can switch shots, so he changes to "picture in picture", and parallel montage becomes "plane montage" in his movies. Through "picture-in-picture", the audience, dramatist and hidden film director have equal status, and people and things seen by the audience are inadvertently not seen through the director's eyes.
Greenaway was the first director who used the "picture-in-picture" technology extensively in his films. Large and small pictures make it possible to jump in time and space. The images in the big picture and the small picture can be related events in different places at the same time. For example, the big picture shows the publisher and Jerome having sex at the publisher's house, and the small picture shows Nozi can't find Jerome at home. (Breaking the conventional clipping of plane montage) Nuozi drove to the publishing business (the large and small pictures were merged into one), and she came to the landing window to see the scene in the big picture and left sadly. However, events in different time and space, such as Qing, a female court official in the 10 century, echoed the fate of Yoko Qingyuan in the 1990s, and directors treated them in the same picture. Events that happened at different times, such as Nuozi's two visits to the publishing house (20 years apart), appeared on different screens at the same time.
Creating one or more small pictures in a big picture, the size and position of which can be changed and adjusted at will, has long been used in TV. The forbidden book on the pillow uses computer to process images, and the images are superimposed layer by layer. Each layer of images can be events in different time and space, but they are interrelated, or mutually causal, or express the same event. It changes, repeats and combines the same theme-sexualism writing, and the combination of images and this article is far away and mixed. With accurate editing, well-designed story structure, rich creativity and imagination, Greenaway has realized the diversified presentation of multiple pictures on the screen in terms of narrative grammar and various possibilities of film forms, subverting the single time sequence of mainstream movies. Although many viewers have no such movie habits, and their highly experimental and subversive images and narratives are hard for the audience to understand, we can still get a judgment that Peter Greenaway has an obvious narrative strategy for the use of "picture-in-picture", highlighting the existence of the screen and the film director, and then questioning the restoration of the film as a material reality. Of course, there is another most important thing to express here: the status of women.
Brief comments:
Director Peter Greenaway thinks that "body and literature" are inseparable themes in life, which are exciting and pleasing to the eye. There are many nude scenes written on the body in the film, but the film is very elegant and very different from ordinary nude films.
interview
Forbidden Books on the Pillow —— Desire and Writing
Christopher Hausoni: Most of your films are deeply permeated with the shadow of western culture and history. What prompted you to venture to the East?
Peter Greenaway: Well, starting with the chef, the thief, his wife and her lover, I spent a long time making three films, mainly focusing on claustrophobic Europe. /kloc-the baroque art of the 0/7th century has given me a lot of lessons, including the use of sex and violence in this art form, and of course exaggerated expressions. I compared them with some situations, although it is still controversial whether these comparisons can be understood by the audience. After these movies, I'm going to make a trilogy, starting with the Magic Code of Spero and ending with Poké mon. There was a movie about necrophilia at first. All actors must be over 65, because I want to use some good British actors. Our reserve funds are very small. Besides, this is a film about necrophilia, so we need a lot of supplementary funds. So I want to make this movie secretly, so the outside world won't know what I'm doing. Actors over 65, necrophilia and mystery shooting are good ideas for investors. So I changed my direction a little and found a script from the bookshelf. This play was written by me at 1984, and it was called "sensuality and writing" at that time.
There is calligraphy art in the East, which is a pictographic ideograph. Japanese calligraphy and literature have developed almost simultaneously and have a long history. Words and images, tangled love desires are intertwined at once, so I had an idea to consider using calligraphy as a metaphor. Many years ago, I came across Qing's Pillow Grass Collection, which is a female literary work. I must say that the Forbidden Book on the Pillow and the Pillow Grass have nothing to explain each other, but this book really inspired me. I found that life ultimately depends on two forces: lust and literature, and we will be inspired by these two forces sooner or later. In this way, the cornerstone of a movie is the carnival of literature and sensuality. This original power table, when you see literature, you will see lust, and when you see lust, you will see literature. This is the theme of the film, self-indulgence and inner turmoil.
Christophe Hausoni: What shocked me in your past movies was that you were always intoxicated with your naked and unadorned body in rage. There has been a new development in "Forbidden Books by Pillow"-obviously, you have been decorating those bodies to make them beautiful in this movie.
Peter Greenaway: I think I need to consider the existence of the body, sensuality, nudity and nudity (nudity is evil, but nudity is just a display), and I need to infiltrate these ideas into my movies. However, inevitably, every time I encounter different ideas. If you have seen My Zoo, you will find that the theme of this movie is very simple, which is about decay and depravity-well, for many people, this movie must be ugly. British TV is full of natural history programs, which have a preset concept: the world is a beautiful place, which makes us indulge in some unknown power, and we are just a group of viewers. However, any evolutionist, ecologist or environmentalist knows that coins have two sides: we have to face not only life, but also death; We should not only enjoy growth, but also endure decline.
This film pays great attention to performance. Nuozi is in a dilemma: to find an excellent calligrapher who happens to be a good lover, or to find a good lover who happens to be an excellent calligrapher? Maybe you have understood the role of "body" and "thinking" in this film. I found the perfect combination point, that is, this sense of impermanence of the body, and I also want to know if I can balance these contradictory emotions well.
What is the content of pillow grass? Pillow Grass (まくらのそぅし) is a collection of essays by Qing, a Japanese heian period woman writer. The content is mainly observation and random thoughts on daily life. A few broken words, the text is light and interesting. Zhou Zuoren's Chinese version is the most widely circulated and has the highest evaluation.
There is also a movie of the same name, also called pillow-banned books.
Nuozi loves to use her boyfriend as manuscript paper and write her boyfriend's book. Every time she writes, it becomes a volume. Every time she finishes writing a volume, her boyfriend goes to the publishing house and shows her the words. Nuozi refused to see her boyfriend because of his close relationship with the publisher, and found another man to write. The boyfriend couldn't stand losing his promise and committed suicide by taking medicine. After her boyfriend died, the publisher peeled off her boyfriend's words from the body and bound them into a book. Nuozi called the last volume of the book "The Volume of Death" and wrote it on a Lux, trying to expose the guilt of the publisher.
Pillow book-what horror film is this? Pillow book (1996) was banned by pillow.
IMDb:0 1 14 134
Director: Peter Greenaway
Screenwriter: Seshonagong (book) Peter Greenaway
Type: Plot/Love
Film rating: 7.3 points (26 votes) I want to score.
Release date: 1996 May 12, Cannes Film Festival (more ...)
Slogan: something that makes the heart beat faster. (more ...)
Introduction:
Japanese Girls and Sons, starring Vivian Wu, lived in the artistic atmosphere of literature and calligraphy when she was a child. On her birthday, her gay father would dip a brush in red paint and write a blessing on her face. When he and his son grew up, they divorced their first husband and moved to Hong Kong because they were obsessed with literature. She met two lovers and encouraged them to write on her nude. Jerome, the second lover, pretended to commit suicide in order to get Hirako back, but the result was true.
Cast:
Vivian Wu ... Nagiko.
Yoshi Oida ... Publisher.
Ken Ogata ... Father.
Hideko Yoshida ... Aunt/maid
Ewan mcgregor ... Jerome
Weng Qianyu ... Mother.
Ken Mitsuishi ... Husband.
Honda Yutai ... Hoki
Barbara Lott ... Jerome's mother
Miyoko Kawai ... Young Najiko
Other Chinese titles:
Pillow book/pillow grass
Length: 126 minutes
Country/Region: France/UK/Netherlands
White language: English/Cantonese/Italian/Japanese/Mandarin.
Color: black and white/color
Mix: Dolby
Grade: Argentina: 16/ Australia: Malaysia/Finland: K- 16/ France:-12/ Germany: 12/ Hong Kong: III/ Portugal: M/ 16/ Korea.
What movies did ewan mcgregor appear in? film works
In 2006
The Great Pretender (not shown), as Leslie Grangley/Bonnie Prince Charlie.
I, Lucifer (unreleased), play Declan Gunn.
The Unnamed Works of Woody Allen (not shown)
Agent shredding (unpublished)
Miss Potter, play Norman
Play Billy's porn scene.
Storm buster Ian Ryder.
In 2005
Stay, also translated as Away from the Soul, plays Sam Foster.
Star Wars: Episode III-Revenge of the Sith was played by Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Island (also translated as Island Rebellion/Escape from Clone Island/Rebirth of the Jedi) plays Lincoln Six Echoes/Tom Lincoln.
Flying pigeon (Valiant), nicknamed Valiant.
The adventures of Robots, dubbed Rodney Copperbottom.
In 2003
The Big Fish (also translated as Big Fish Dad/Big Fish Romance/Big Fish in Power/The smartest person thinks like a fish) plays Ed Bloom (when he was young).
"Speed" ("fast"), dubbed as narration.
Young Adam (also translated as lover Adam/fire Adam/stagnant water) plays Joe Taylor.
Down with Love (Down with Love) plays Catcher Brock.
In 2002
Star Wars: Episode 2-Attack of the Clones as Obi-Wan Kenobi.
200 1 year
Black Hawk Down (also translated as Black Hawk Project/Black Hawk 15 hours) plays Spec. John Grimes.
Moulin Rouge plays Christian.
In 2000,
Nora dressed up as james joyce.
"Anno Domini", play a stranger.
1999
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder (also translated as Chasing for Love/Guardian/Eyewitness's Eyes) plays Stephen Wilson.
Rogue Trader plays Nick Leeson.
Star Wars: Episode I-The Phantom Threat was played by Obi-Wan Kenobi.
A player who makes a lot of money (Rogue Trader) plays futures trader Nick _6_4 Li Sen.
1998
"Little Voice" (also translated as "Little Voice"/"Sound and Light Burst") plays Billy.
Velvet goldmine (also translated as velvet goldmine/Drunken Gold) plays Kurt Wilder.
Dessert, such as a stroller
1997
Angels love birdcage companions ("a lifeless paradise"), played by Robert Lewis.
Snake Kiss, playing Meneer Chrome.
Look who's screaming ("Night Watch"). Play Martin Bells.
1996
"Fuck off", the poster title of the American version is "Fuck off!" ), make a ndy
Emma plays Frank Churchill.
Pillow book (also translated as pillow book/pillow grass) plays Jerome.
"psychedelic train" ("Trainspotting"), as Renton.