A couple with a broken relationship learns some valuable lessons about love, life, and sacrifice in this romantic drama based on a novel by W. Somerset Maugham. It's 1925, and Dr. Walter Fane (Edward Norton) is a physician and bacteriologist who has become smitten with Kitty (Naomi Watts), the beautiful daughter of a wealthy and socially prominent family. Walter proposes marriage to Kitty and she accepts; however, while he clearly loves her, Kitty is more interested in her reputation than Walter's feelings, as she's ...
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A couple with a broken relationship learns some valuable lessons about love, life, and sacrifice in this romantic drama based on a novel by W. Somerset Maugham. It's 1925, and Dr. Walter Fane (Edward Norton) is a physician and bacteriologist who has become smitten with Kitty (Naomi Watts), the beautiful daughter of a wealthy and socially prominent family. Walter proposes marriage to Kitty and she accepts; however, while he clearly loves her, Kitty is more interested in her reputation than Walter's feelings, as she's recently turned 25, an age by which most of her peers have already wed. Kitty and Walter move to Shanghai, where he sets up a practice and she takes a lover, the British Vice Consul Charles Townsend (Liev Schreiber). When Walter learns of his wife's infidelity, he becomes furious, and impulsively volunteers to travel to China to work in a village stricken with a major cholera epidemic. While Walter's actions are meant to punish Kitty rather than reflect his own benevolence, the daily trials of living in a community in crisis have a striking impact on the couple, giving them a new and deeper perspective on their relationship. The Painted Veil is the third screen adaptation of Maugham's best-selling novel of the same name; a 1934 version starred Greta Garbo and Herbert Marshall, while Eleanor Parker and Bill Travers played the leads in a 1957 remake titled The Seventh Sin. Mark Deming, Rovi
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Studio:
Bob Yari Productions / The Mark Gordon Company / Warner Independent...
Released:
2007
MPAA Rating:
PG13
Alibris ID:
18068154102
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Seller's Description:
New. Disc(s) and case show moderate signs of wear and tear. If applicable, digital code may not be useable/ included. May be missing booklet/inserts. If applicable, cardboard slipcover may not be included. Item is sealed; cannot verify if sealed by Manufacturer.
This is a beautifully crafted film, with strong acting by the cast. The story is one of adoration and love on one side, with careless acceptance of that love and then betrayal on the other.
Kitty (Naomi Watts) is the wayward daughter of two stuffy parents who have a disapproving air towards her. She marries Walter (Edward Norton) a bacteriologist, in a fit of bravado. Walter is in love, but inhibited and to Kitty not exciting enough. Through Walter's work, they travel to Shanghai and meet Charlie (Liev Schreiber) who begins a torrid affair with Kitty. Walter discovers her betrayal and in a fit of anger and disgust, takes them both to a far outpost, and a primitive existence near a convent there; the area is rife with disease and contaminated water.
The cinematography is splendid and emotive, showing the grandeur of China with its mists and mountains. The two strong leads are more than ably assisted by Toby Jones as Waddington, and Diana Rigg as the Mother Superior of the convent. Costuming is evocative of that time in the 1920's when for women, clothes were simple and elegant. Naomi Watts looks lovely and somehow frail, while Edward Norton's Walter slowly emerges into a more aware and accepting husband, and strangely becomes more visually handsome in the process.
This is a film which will remain in the mind long after the DVD has been put away. It is a film, too, which will be played again with just as much pleasure.
Prue
Jul 30, 2009
This film is about a number of things; salvation of one's integrity, opening up to the beauty of another person's big picture and maturing in a relationship. Surrounded by the beauty of the Far East, the splendor of this production is brilliant.