Greenaway inadvertantly presents a perfect metaphor in this film. It is all about the wonder and power writers ascribe to caligraphy. Never do they talk about storytelling. “The Pillow Book” is beautiful to look at, but its content rings up “No Sale” on my cash register. (I don’t know where that came from, but if you like it I got more.) Stick with “A Zed and Two Noughts” or “The Cook, The Thief. . .” and hope you see the best segments on this with its sound off in a bar somewhere. (Actually, the soundtrack is really great, too. I’m off to LimeWire in an attempt to find the Chinese version of “Rose, Rose I Love You.”) (Also, with all the cool in-camera effects, the lighting, slide projection, hours & hours it musta taken to scrawl Japanese letters on Ewan MacGregor’s foreskin. . .you think any of the technicians wanted to turn to Greenaway and let him know that all their hard work was going toward something with a small kernal of a neat idea but, let’s face it, a meandering and boring-as-hell end product?) (Also, I do have a general respect for Peter Greenaway. He approaches movie making fror a perspective entirely his own. I have only seen 5 of his films and I intend, eventually, to see them all.)