Movie-A-Day #23: The Pillow Book (1996).

Jan. 23 is National Handwriting Day in the United States. That’s all well and good, but Japan is where the art of penmanship has really developed. There, calligraphy is not just a pretty way to communicate but a fully-realized artform all its own, full of beauty and sensuality. It’s this sensual side that Peter Greenaway highlights in “The Pillow Book,” his adaptation of the Sei Shonagon novel about a woman who seeks erotic release through using the body as a medium for calligraphy. It’s a beautiful and sexually charged film – and, yes, this is where you need to go if you want to see full frontal nudity from Ewan McGregor.