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The Painted Veil (2006) DVD Review
The Painted Veil (2006) DVD Credits:
The Painted Veil (2006) Directed by:
John Curran
The Painted Veil (2006) Written by:
Ron Nyswaner
The Painted Veil (2006) Cast:
Naomi Watts, Edward Norton
The Painted Veil (2006) Released by:
Not available at this time
Region:
1
The Painted Veil (2006) DVD Release Date:
7th May 2007
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The Painted Veil (2006) Synopsis:

A love story set in the 1920s about a young English couple (a doctor and a society girl) who marry hastily, relocate to Hong Kong where they betray each other easily, and find an unexpected chance at redemption and happiness while on a deadly journey into the heart of ancient China. Based on the novel by W. Somerset Maugham.

The Painted Veil (2006) DVD Review:

It is a sad reality that the “epic film” is now so closely associated with science fiction in the case of The Lord of the Rings, or computer generated battle sequences, as is the case for nearly every other epic film of the recent past. In the golden age of cinema there could be an epic film without a single battle or creature needed, and The Painted Veil is a spectacular example of such a film, sadly released on fewer theaters than many of the spectacle emphasizing films out at the same time. The Painted Veil is a haunting film which seems dull at first, then takes all two hours to build a crushing conclusion of simple beauty and pain. Devastatingly realistic in both humor and suffering, The Painted Veil stays true to life in even the dull pacing at times, but each frame captures more heart and humanity than nearly every other praised film this past year.

The Painted Veil begins suddenly, and just as quickly Dr. Walter Fane (Edward Norton) proposes marriage to Kitty (Naomi Watts), a young woman who has begun to feel the pressure to marry from her aristocratic family. Kitty says yes, although it is an obvious escape from her family, even giving her the opportunity to live in Shanghai, where Walter works as a scientist. Kitty treats Walter as she treated her parents, as a provider and hardly anything else, so when another woman’s husband (Liev Schreiber) begins an affair with her, she feels no guilt.

Although they are living in Shanghai there still exists a lifestyle of upper class British society and the affair is treated with utmost secrecy and discretion to ensure that all appearances and reputations are always kept as clean as the clothing. They seem to exist in a world very much like their own, despite living in a completely different environment. As Kitty and Charlie try to find a place to talk once Walter finds out about the affair they must walk through several rooms looking for privacy and each is worse than the one before, but once the door is open they must continue so as not to arouse any suspicion. This is the same way that Kitty and Walter battle each other once the affair is discovered. Walter insists that he will divorce Kitty unless she travels with him into a cholera-ravaged village deep in China, and knowing she will be disgraced, she follows. They then use the threat of cholera as a competition to prove who is less afraid to die, perhaps to show their frustration with their sham of a marriage. They are not inoculated and even eat uncooked food knowing the risks are high. Inevitably they begin to warm to each other, but this brings problems as well.

The Painted Veil is a lengthy film that takes it’s time getting anywhere. At one point near the end of the film there was a reference to months gone by and I was amazed that it had only been two or three months since they had arrived in the village. Although this length seems unnecessary at first, by the time the truly emotional segments began I found that in spending significant amounts of time with little happening I had begun to care for the two characters shown most. Even though The Painted Veil is a slower romance/drama, any romantic willing to stick with it is bound to have their heart broken and a pile of tissue by the end.


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The Painted Veil (2006) DVD review written by: Ryan Izay

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