The Painted Veil

The Painted Veil
by John Curran (II)

The Painted Veil
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DVD Cover Information

Actor: Diana Rigg, Edward Norton, Liev Schreiber, Naomi Watts, Toby Jones
Director: John Curran (II)
Brand: Warner Brothers
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; French (Original Language); Spanish (Original Language); English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled)
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, NTSC, Surround Sound, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 125 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-05-08
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Warner Home Video

Movie Reviews of The Painted Veil

Movie Review: Gorgeous but grim
Summary: 4 Stars

Amazing performances by Watts and Norton, but the winner here is China itself, with the most amazing scenery, atmosphere, and resilence, as life goes on despite the epidemic.

Kitty as a heroine is flawed and selfish, Walter rigid and hurt, and brittle in his anger. The lover seems all she could want and more, until she realizes Walter is capable of love, whereas her 'lover' is not.

I wish they had had more time before the bitter ending, but other than that, it was a lovely if dark film.

Summary of The Painted Veil

Based on the classic 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, a middle class doctor and Kitty, an upper-class woman, who get married for the wrong reasons and relocate to Shanghai, where she falls in love with someone else. When he uncovers her infidelity, in an act of vengeance, he accepts a job in a remote village in China ravaged by a deadly epidemic, and takes her along. Their journey brings meaning to their relationship and gives them purpose in one of the most remote and beautiful places on earth.
Produced by Edward Norton and Naomi Watts, The Painted Veil works well as a movie--even better as an actor's showcase. The year is 1925. When her domineering mother pressures her to marry, Kitty (Watts) settles for shy bacteriologist Walter (Norton). Then Walter is transferred from London to Shanghai and the lonely and bored Kitty drifts into an affair with married diplomat Charlie (Liev Schreiber). When Walter finds out, he makes a startling proposition: either Kitty accompanies him to the cholera-infested countryside or he'll divorce her. With no other prospects, she comes along on what looks like a double-suicide mission. Based on the novel by W. Somerset Maugham, The Painted Veil was adapted by Philadelphia's Ron Nyswaner (who knows a little something about infectious diseases). As two previous versions made little impact--despite Garbo's presence in the 1934 melodrama--John Curran's film is sure to stand as definitive. Interestingly, Norton, who studied Chinese history at Yale, chose Watts as his co-star, while Watts chose Curran, for whom she appeared in 2004's underrated We Don't Live Here Anymore. Filmed on location, the handsome production is, in many respects, just as old-fashioned as its source material--sex is merely suggested and Kitty is shocked that their English neighbor (Toby Jones) has a Chinese lover--but the ending packs a feminist twist. Mostly though, The Painted Veil is about the acting, and Watts and Norton, along with Diana Rigg as a disillusioned Mother Superior, have rarely been better. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

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