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The Painted Veil
Directed by: John Curran
Starring: Edward Norton
Genre:
Drama/Romance
Run Time: 125
min.
Release Date:
December 2006
On The Web:
Official
Site
Teaser:
Movie Trailer
Reviewed by
Byron Merritt |
Relationship films are just
...well ...relationship films. Most carry themselves thanks to the
acting and little else. But occasionally one will come along and
surprise the hell out of you. Such is the case with THE PAINTED VEIL.
Lead actors Edward Norton and Naomi Watts must’ve seen ...something in
the film’s script that brought them on-board not only as actors, but
also as producers. In no small part is the success of this film due to
these two but also because of the setting: China. Cinematographer Stuart
Dryburgh of THE PIANO fame puts China’s beautiful landscape to
work for the film, not forcing or lingering on artistic shots, but
letting the stunning background draw viewers’ eyes calmly into the world
around the actors. This was a huge bonus, something that struck me as
effortless artwork on his part.
The script itself also seems effortless in subject matter, but it is
this slightness that gives the entire production an amazing quality not
normally seen in films. This story covers the lives of Kitty (Naomi
Watts, KING KONG, 2005) and Walter (Edward Norton, THE
ILLUSIONIST), a married couple with a stolid marriage. Kitty is the
spoiled rich girl of an elitist family. Her mother hopes to marry her
off to a somewhat well-off husband and when Walter, an infectious
disease specialist, arrives on the scene, Kitty and he are thrown
together in 1925 London. A marriage quickly ensues. But when Walter gets
transferred to Shanghai, cracks in their relationship begin to show as
Kitty finds excitement in the arms of another man, a married diplomat
named Charlie (Liev Schreiber, THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE, 2004).
When Walter finds out about it, he does something wildly unexpected: he
moves himself and Kitty into China’s cholera epidemic. With Walter’s
threat of divorce and ridicule hanging over Kitty’s head, she accepts
his move ...especially after learning that Charlie (her paramour)
doesn’t care for her like she thought he did.
Kitty’s lack of love for Walter hits him hard and he buries himself in
his work once they arrive at the cholera-infected town. He transfers his
love for his wife into his love for his work, caring for the sick and
dying (especially the children) while riding recklessly through the
disease-riddled area. He quickly encounters battles with the townsfolk
who believe his coming there was a bad omen. Eastern superstition
battles Western medicine and with the assistance of a communist soldier
names Colonel Yu (Anthony Wong Chau-Sang), he forms a tenuous
relationship between slowing the epidemic and helping maintain the
Chinese culture.
Kitty soon learns that Walter is becoming more and more respected in the
area, and she eventually volunteers to help care for the sick too
(without Walter’s knowledge, initially). Distant husband and lonely wife
begin seeing each other during their treatment, and each learns much
about the other. Walter finds that he can forgive his wife for her
infidelity and for his own mismanagement of their marriage. Kitty grows
up and learns that being the wife of a respectable doctor isn’t such a
bore after all. Love grows, but like a beautiful flower, it is often
most fragrant and colorful right before it dies.
The ending sequence between Watts and Norton are what great film is all
about. The lighting, the acting, the set, the crushing emotion, all play
a pitch-perfect role.
You’d be hard-pressed to find another film so finely done in 2006.
Bravo.
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Image from The Painted
Veil
DVD cost: $24.99
Purchase:
BestPrices.com
Film Review Stew
Favorite?
Yes.
Stew Poo-Poo? No.
Newsworthy:
Warner Independents and
Yari Groups brought in a Chinese production company to help finance the
film. The Chinese partner was granted approvals over the script and the
finished film. It was concerned about the film's depiction of the
uprising during the Chinese Revolution as well as the cholera's victims
and asks for these contents to be reduced, something Edward Norton and
John Curran disagreed upon. In the end, about 38 seconds of footage were
removed.
Movie Quote: "I
knew when I married you that you were selfish and spoiled. But I loved
you."
Other Actors/Actresses
from The Painted Veil
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