Review of The Pillow Book

I did not have high expectations when I watched the video (I was underage when the film was first released), but still I was disappointed. Sure the effect and colour were rather good, but it's weak in most other points except Ewan McGregor.

Never mind the main story, what really gets on my nerves was the absolute lack of effort in understanding what Hong Kong is like, despite the fact that a large part of the movie was set in Hong Kong. Sure enough Hong Kong seems to have nothing to do with the story, but that's where the story took place, so at least that can be portrayed a little like Hong Kong.

Some people go on about calligraphy or poetry combining with film. Maybe it's because I'm an Asian, I don't really see what the deal is. I couldn't help asking myself what the director was on, when there were spotlights of Chinese words beside Vivian Wu. If anything, it made me feel very detached from the film.

But I don't regret buying the video, and that's because of Ewan. Maybe it's because the part of the film he's in has a better plot, when he's there, there's more fun, which is a big contrast to the bore of the rest of the film.

It was loose, out of sorts, purely a display of technology.