The Painted Veil

Unrated

12/13/20062h 5m

Premiere Release (US)

~ Sometimes the greatest journey is the distance between two people. ~

Overview:

A British medical doctor fights a cholera outbreak in a small Chinese village, while also being trapped at home in a loveless marriage to an unfaithful wife.

Director:

John Curran

Status:

Released

Language:

English

Buget:

$19,400,000.00

Revenue:

$26,910,847.00

Key words:

infidelity
china
based on novel or book
shanghai, china
nun
cholera
foreign aid
doctor
epidemic
convent (nunnery)
loveless marriage
1920s
bacteriologist

Cast

Edward Norton

~ as ~

Dr. Walter Fane

Naomi Watts

~ as ~

Kitty Fane

Liev Schreiber

~ as ~

Charlie Townsend

Toby Jones

~ as ~

Mr. Waddington

Diana Rigg

~ as ~

Mother Superior

Anthony Wong

~ as ~

Colonel Yu

Xia Yu

~ as ~

Wu Lien

Juliet Howland

~ as ~

Dorothy Townsend

Ian Renwick

~ as ~

Geoffrey Denison

Li Bin

~ as ~

Te-Ming

View full cast & crew

Reviews (2)

Peter McGinn
Written 4 year(s) ago
8
This movie seemed vaguely familiar to my wife like we had seen it before, but it all seemed new to me when we recently watched it. We both enjoyed it. I wasn’t concerned when a few reviews remarked that it moved slowly, as we have always appreciated movies that build a quiet story carefully, and mostly this one did that.

My only criticism is that at the outset of the movie, I didn’t quite believe that Walter was in love with Kitty. He said he was, but I wonder if a scene or two showing him falling for her ended up on the cutting room floor. He merely seemed to stalk her around the party and want to marry her before he left for China. Similarly, Kitty falling for Charlie didn’t seem well constructed. It felt like one scene they stared at each other, flirted a bit, and the next scene they are in bed.

But once I suspended that bit of disbelief, the film was great. Gradually Kitty develops as a character, and her marriage begins to be rebuilt from the rubble of her earlier actions.

The final scene, a few years after the action in the bulk of the movie, brings the story full circle in a satisfying manner. All around a fine movie well worth watching patiently.
b
badelf
Written 2 year(s) ago
7
I enjoyed this film a good more than I expected I would, based on the poor critical response and so-so viewer scores. Fortunately, Norton and Watts saved the film by turning in phenomenal performances. The real problem is that we never get totally invested in the characters. Nevertheless, The Painted Veil is a real love story.