Edward Norton and Naomi Watts star in this lavish adaptation of W. Somerset Maugham's romantic novel.
Shelley once wrote: "Lift not the painted veil which those who live Call Life", his pensive prose going onto inspire W. Somerset Maugham's novel about a cuckolded doctor's revenge against his unfaithful wife. I'm almost certain that both the great poet and author would've approved of John Curran's visually impressive, well-acted and, unlike Kitty Fane, admirably faithful adaptation. 'The Painted Veil' sees Ed Norton as the amiable' if unexciting' bacteriologist Dr. Walter Fane; who drags his cheating wife Kitty (Naomi Watts) into the middle of a cholera epidemic in China, circa 1920. Norton, doing a good English accent, is excellent as always and plays subtle duality to a hilt; it's a testament to his prowess as an actor that we barely notice how Norton makes an initially weak, stiff and cold character into a sympathetic, devoted and quietly courageous figure. Naomi Watts is sensuous socialite Kitty, whose marriage of convenience becomes a bond of love, not through the shame of her affair with British diplomat Charlie Townsend (a well cast Liev Schreiber, whose physical difference to Norton cleverly emphasises the often shallow nature of betrayal), but by the epic journey she makes with her husband. Watts masters accents with ease, and has an attractive exility that's just right for period drama, the pairing works exceptionally well and holds the film together in its slower moments. Sommerset Maugham claimed his book was inspired by Dante, though one can see shades of the writer's own life in both its structure and characters, for whilst 'The Painted Veil' isn't as explicitly biographical as 'Of Human Bondage' we can still make connections to Maugham's troubled childhood: Walter was what Maugham (a trained doctor himself) was forced to become in his time at King's Boarding School, Canterbury; orphaned at 11, he lived under the repressed regime of his uncle; the vicar of Whitstable. Sent back and forth to a school he hated and a vicarage he despised in a country he barely knew; Maugham, like Walter, became a withdrawn and maladjusted soul; bullied for his poor English (the writer was born and raised in France), small stature and stammer, he soon developed a knack for scathing one-liners and Oscar Wilde-esque comebacks. But like Kitty, was intrigued and ultimately governed by forbidden, destructive lusts (in Maugham's case; homosexuality). Its also interesting to note his past in espionage: the author was sent to Moscow in 1917 by MI6, and ordered to undermine the German pacifist movement to keep Russia in the war: this operation failed when Lenin and Bolshevik paramilitaries seized power in the October Revolution. Again, one can link that back to themes of deceit and the ulterior motives of numerous characters in this story. Another theme is the selfless desire to help others, as displayed by Walter, a stance which wasn't borne by taking a oath but by what the author saw during his years studying medicine: "I saw how men died. I saw how they bore pain. I saw what hope looked like, fear and relief...", noble sentiments almost paraphrased by Dr. Fane throughout the course of the story.
'The Painted Veil' also features some stunning cinematography which brings China's rural provinces to light in a manner not seen since Zhang Yimou's superlative wuxia 'Hero'. Art directors Mei Kunping, Xinran Tu, Yanrong Xing and production designer Juhua Tu help director of photography Stuart Dryburgh ('The Piano, 'Portrait Of A Lady') make this a truly beautiful film to look at. I wasn't expecting a great deal from 'The Painted Veil' and only saw it because Ed Norton is one of my favourite actors; Norton must be hold Maugham's work in high regard, I thought, or else he wouldn't have come on board as producer or championed this story for the better part of a decade. A story, that whilst good, most would envisage as a mini-series or one-off television drama, having now seen the finished product, I can safely say it wasn"t time wasted. One critic described Maugham's books as "such a tissue of clichés that one's wonder is finally aroused at the writer's ability to assemble so many and at his unfailing inability to put anything in an individual way", the self-deprecating author humbly agreed and claimed he was "...in the very first row of the second-raters", for there are some duff scenes that pay lip-service to colonial myths and clichés, but that aside, 'The Painted Veil' is a fine picture which pays loving tribute to best of 'Merchant Ivory'. Brilliantly acted and made to highest possible standards, I may not want to watch it again for some time, but its one that I can easily recommend to all. Enjoyably quaint.
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Please note this is a region 2 DVD and will require a region 2 (Europe) or region Free DVD Player in order to play. Sometimes the greatest journey is the distance between two people Based on the novel by W. Somerset Maugham, The Painted Veil is a love story set in the 1920s that tells the story of a young English couple, Walter (Edward Norton) and Kitty (Naomi Watts). Kitty lives in an age when a proper lady must find a husband. Bored with her life and stifled by her socially conscious mother, Kitty accepts a proposal of marriage from Dr Walter Fane, a quiet, serious doctor who specialises in infectious diseases. Relocating to Shanghai, the Fanes are introduced to English Vice Consul Charles Townsend (Schreiber). While Walter dedicates himself to his work, Kitty and Townsend embark on an adulterous affair. Learning of her indiscretion, and in an act of revenge, Walter takes Kitty to a remote village ravaged by cholera. Amid the human wreckage and tragedy, Kitty and Walter discover forgiveness, understanding, tenderness and eventually each other. Actors Naomi Watts, Ed Norton, Liev Schreiber, Diana Rigg, Anthony Wong Chau-Sang & Toby Jones Director John Curran Certificate 12 years and over Year 2006 Languages English - Dolby Digital (5.1) Duration 2 hours and 5 minutes (approx) Region Region 2 - Will only play on European Region 2 or multi-region DVD players.
1920s love story based on the Somerset Maugham novel of the same name. Kitty (Naomi Watts) has married middle class doctor Walter (Edward Norton) for all the wrong reasons. When the couple relocates to Shanghai, she begins an affair with a local diplomat. When Walter finds out, he takes a job in a remote, cholera-stricken Chinese village as an act of vengeance. Can a cure be found for the disease - or their troubled relationship?
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