Based on W. Somerset Maugham's classic novel, the film is a first-rate melodrama, which sets a tortured romance against an exotic backdrop filled with turmoil. Director John Curran (WE DON'T LIVE HERE ANYMORE) brings the story to life with great production design and stellar lead performances.
Kitty (Naomi Watts, KING KONG) is the daughter of a wealthy family, who is getting a bit old to be living off her mother and father. Due to the pressures of her family, she hastily agrees to marry stiff civil servant Walter Fane (Edward Norton, THE 25TH HOUR), who works as a scientist for the British government in Shanghai. Kitty quickly becomes bored with life in China where parties and games come far and few.
But when she meet fellow married Brit Charlie Townsend (Liev Schreiber, SCREAM series), she delves into a steamy affair. But when Walter finds out, he find a poignant form of punishment — he volunteers to serve as the doctor in a far off village where a cholera outbreak has occurred and forces his wife to take the long arduous land voyage to the small town in the middle of nowhere. If the disease wasn't bad enough, a recent shooting of Chinese workers by British troupes has made the native population very hostile toward foreigners. This doesn't help when Walter has to cut off the town's water supply to stop the spread of the disease.
As the central character, Kitty grows from a "party girl" to a responsible adult, who asks the Mother Superior (Diana Rigg, TV's AVENGERS) at the convent orphanage if she can help with the children or even scrub floors just so she can feel useful. The local British representative Waddington (Toby Jones, 2006's INFAMOUS) quickly suspects that the couple's marriage is not solid, because Walter never looks at his wife.
Watts' performance is great. She brings depth and nuance to a character who could have come off as a spoiled brat. She matched by Norton as the proper English gentleman, who asked Kitty to marry out of obligation as much as Kitty accepted.
The screenplay by Ron Nyswaner develops the characters believably and makes the love story seem real. The latter is created by taking the time to let the characters get to know each other and develop love. The characters don't just have one big epiphany and love each other because they see the other in a different light. It's a collection of qualities and realizations. Nyswaner does a nice job of interweaving the journey to the village with the beginning of Kitty and Walter's marriage. It creates a nice foreboding feeling.
Co-produced with the Chinese government and filmed on location in China, the production has a grand lush quality. Fans of period drama will be satisfied. The period detail is captured well. All in all, THE PAINTED VEIL contains the classic elements of melodrama, which include compelling central characters, beautiful backdrops and dramatic situations. All involved carry off the material with skill and grace.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
