Friday, January 19, 2007

The Painted Veil Movie

Kitty (Naomi Watts) is a young London socialite. Her parents (Alan David; Maggie Steed) want to marry her off and invite Walter Fane (Edward Norton) to a party. By the next day he asks to marry her – which she does. He is a bacteriologist working in Shanghai. They travel there and soon, bored and not in love, she and a diplomat from the British embassy, Charles Townsend (Liev Schreiber), begin an affair. Walter discovers the affair and gives Kitty a choice: she can follow him to an inland village where a cholera epidemic is raging or he will divorce her. When Charles refuses to leave his wife, Kitty chooses to go with Walter.

 

 

A community of French nuns, headed by a British mother superior (Diana Rigg), runs the local hospital and orphanage. The superior notices the distance between Kitty and Walter, and offers Kitty her maternal and life advice while Kitty begins to volunteer her time at the orphanage. Little by little, Walter and Kitty grow closer as they both change as they give of themselves to do good to those around them.

 

Based on a novel by 1925 novel by the British author W. Somerset Maugham, this is the second film version of the story (previously released in 1934 with Greta Garbo and Herbert Marshall), and it is beautifully directed (John Curran; We Don’t Live Here Anymore), acted, and filmed. Edward Norton is one of the finest actors of this generation. And this is one of the finest period dramas I have ever seen. It sets up the reasons why people get married, the mistakes and bad choices people make for the wrong reasons, and how people can change. At one point the mother superior tells Kitty about her own relationship with God, and says, “When loyalty and love come together, there is grace.”

 

As I left the theater several other women (no men at this screening!) were chatting and asking, “What does the title, The Painted Veil, mean?” None of us could figure it out. I thought it might refer to the Chinese play at the beginning where the female character seems to be holding a veil to her face and perhaps getting make-up on it. If you know, please share it with us! Now I want to read the book…. This is an obvious awards contender. Beautiful.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't think Maugham ever actually said, but the term "painted veil" comes from a poem - I think it's by Keats, or maybe Shelley. Anyway, Edward Norton has said in interviews that he believes it refers to the illusions we create when we fall in love with someone, making them who we want them to be in our minds rather than who they truly are.

Anonymous said...

it's taken from a shelley's poem " Lift Not The Painted Veil Which Those Who Live"
as below. before the preface page of the 1925 somerset maugham's novel, he quoted: "...the painted veil which those who live call Life."

[b]Lift Not The Painted Veil Which Those Who Live[/b]
Percy Bysshe Shelley

Lift not the painted veil which those who live
Call Life: though unreal shapes be pictured there,
And it but mimic all we would believe
With colours idly spread,—behind, lurk Fear
And Hope, twin Destinies; who ever weave
Their shadows, o’er the chasm, sightless and drear.
I knew one who had lifted it—he sought,
For his lost heart was tender, things to love,
But found them not, alas! nor was there aught
The world contains, the which he could approve.
Through the unheeding many he did move,
A splendour among shadows, a bright blot
Upon this gloomy scene, a Spirit that strove
For truth, and like the Preacher found it not.

by the way, i'm sure you're a big fan of edward norton, but you shouldn't ignore naomi watts and without anything to say about her in your review. she's the lead of this film which is about her character kitty's self-discovery journey, and in all the 100+ reviews i've read so far, she gets more and better praises than norton. i personally think this is her best performance, and she, and norton, should both be nominated for the academy award. regards.

Anonymous said...

Thank you all for sharing the sources of the title of the film!
R