PECULIAR BEAUTY THE FLESH, BLOOD OF `PILLOW BOOK' : THE FACTS.

Byline: Bob Strauss Daily News Film Critic

``The Pillow Book,'' Peter Greenaway's latest exquisitely designed, outlandishly transgressive whatsit, is one of the British art monster's easier-to-take movies. The story is more-or-less followable, the copious nudity is generally attractive, and the inevitable grotesquerie comes late in the game and is pretty darn clever, though it still might make you too sick.

All in all, this is Greenaway's most beautiful and accessible work since ``The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover.'' Which is not to say it won't drive a lot of people crazy.

Greenaway sees no reason why cinema should be constricted to traditional narrative forms, and instead tends to organize his intricately designed moving pictures according to mathematic, psychological and architectural formulas. This can result in gorgeous but frustrating incoherence (has anyone ever sat through the entire length of ``Prospero's Books''?).

But his basic gambit here - that the pleasures of writing and those of the flesh can somehow be merged - kind of forces Greenaway to stick to a general story line. Words and characters become more important than he usually makes them, mainly because they're the primary design elements. It's still radically weird, though.

Vivian Wu plays Nagiko, a young Japanese woman whose fondest childhood memory is her father, a great artist, drawing elaborate calligraphy all over her on her birthday. Vaguely aware that a homosexual publisher (Yoshi Oida) is exploiting Dad, Nagiko vows revenge.

First things first, though. Once she's grown into something of a Hong Kong supermodel, Nagiko indulges a not-surprising fetish: She requires her lovers to write on her nude body, and the finer the calligraphy, the better the sex.

Enter Jerome (``Trainspotting'' star Ewan McGregor), an English translator with lousy handwriting but, intriguingly, the Publisher's carnal interest. He doesn't pass Nagiko's stringent penmanship test, but Jerome offers the bright suggestion that she write on him instead. This opens up whole new erotic-emotional worlds, and Nagiko falls madly in love.

But she still sees Jerome as the vehicle for her vengeance, and when that complicated plot is set in motion, horrific consequences can't be too far off.

What's so hard to follow about that? Well, Greenaway naturally confuses matters with repetitive visual tropes and complicated flashbacks. His great cinematographer, Sacha Vierny, whose experience with this kind of tail-eating memory business goes all the way back to ``Last Year at Marienbad,'' works frames within frames and shuffles film qualities in a stunningly evocative way. The body drawing, which required the services of two full-time master calligraphers, becomes a show unto itself.

Yet the issues and emotions remain pretty clear despite all of Greenaway's brilliant camouflage. ``The Pillow Book,'' is definitely challenging viewing. But not so much so that you can't get caught up in its eclectic spell, either by succumbing to the strange story line or simply losing yourself in its many sensual beauties - or, if you're lucky, a bit of both.

The film: ``The Pillow Book'' (NR; nudity, sex, drug use, violence).

The stars: Vivian Wu, Ewan McGregor, Yoshi Oida, Hideko Yoshida.

Behind the scenes: Written and directed by Peter Greenaway. Produced by Kees Kasander. Released by Cinepix Film Properties.

Running time: Two hours, six minutes.

Playing: Nuart, West L.A.

Our rating: Three stars

CAPTION(S):

Photo

Photo:Vivian Wu's ``Pillow Book'' character, Nagiko, believes that the finer the calligraphy, the better the sex.