Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1805 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-09-03
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.77:1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 120 minutes

Synopsis
The third film version of Somerset Maugham’s 1925 novel--directed by John Curran--is ripe with stunning Chinese locales and a smart turn from Naomi Watts as Kitty Fane, the aging English socialite who must put herself in strange and turbulent surroundings before she finds her true self. A complex and beautiful international production, this adaptation benefits greatly from the lack restrictions that inhibited it’s previous incarnations in 1925 (with Greta Garbo) and in 1957 (as THE SEVENTH SIN). After pressure from her wealthy parents to settle down, Kitty (Naomi Watts) marries mild-mannered bacteriologist Walter (Edward Norton), despite her lack of love for him. Shortly after their vows, he takes her to Shanghai, where she immediately has an affair with Charles Townsend (Liev Shrieber), an English Vice Consul. Walter becomes aware of Kitty’s indiscretion and promptly whisks her away to the mountain village of Mei-tan-fu, where they befriend another English expat, the secretly decadent Deputy Commissioner Waddington (Toby Jones, in an extremely likeable performance). Walter begins working to hold an encroaching cholera epidemic at bay---leaving Kitty to ponder her role in the situation as death looms over the village like a spectre. A labour of love that took the better part of a decade for producer Norton and screenwriter Ron Nyswaner, THE PAINTED VEIL is a large, complex, and visually sumptuous production that employed a primarily Chinese crew on its intense location shoots. Norton’s passion for the material is on full display, as he turns in another solid performance. Watts, however, who portrayed another unfaithful wife in Curran’s previous film WE DON’T LIVE HERE ANYMORE (2004), is the heart of the film, all bee-stung lips and sweat on porcelain skin. Romantic, escapist entertainment in the best sense, THE PAINTED VEIL is yet more proof that there is an endless pool of silver screen potential in the classics of literature.

Customer Reviews

Highly recommended
This film caught me by surprise. I hadn't heard much about it, but on a friend's recommendation rented from amazon.

It's an outstanding production. Great location and atmosphere that draws you right in and takes you to the place and period of the story, and in Porter and Watts two fine performances as leading characters that even Maugham would have been proud of.

The score is also excellent. A perfect accompaniment to the film, but a soundtrack that stands up in it's own right too.

The soundtrack won a Golden Globe Award for the film, but I can't believe the film didn't get nominated for any Oscar category at all.

But ignore the Academy. It's one of the best films I've seen for a long time.

A beautiful classic
I must echo the previous review here. The Painted Veil is a stunning film - beautifully acted with stunning cinematography and above all a wonderful story, full of period detail, tension, drama and emotion. Edward Norton and Naomi Watts are both fantastic and portray the characters with passionate perfection. They are joined by a small but equally excellent supporting cast.

I always think that the sign of a good film or book is when you wonder about the characters at the end of the story or think of how events might have turned out differently for them. I just loved this film and would highly recommend it to those who enjoy a thinking person's love story.

A real gem of a film
I have just finnished watching this film and I already know that it will be one of those that stays with me and I will find myself thinking about again and again. I actually bought it after stumbling across it on Amazon while browsing and was encouraged by the glowing reviews.

The 4 stars are because I did feel that it started a little slowly in terms of I couldn't warm to or root for any of the characters until a good 15-20 minutes into the film. It didn't have that oomph that grips you from the off. And that is the only reason it gets 4 stars - if I had the rate the last 3/4 of the film I would vote 10 stars if I could.

The story (very briefly, as there are plenty of reviews on here that will do the plot far more justice that I can) is about Kitty and Walter who marry in 1923 in London after a very brief meeting and they move to Shanghai where Walter is a scientist. They appear to have little in common and very quickly Kitty starts an affair with a married British ex-pat which Walter finds out about and threatens her with divorce (unheard of in the 20's) unless she goes with him further into mainland China to a small, remote town where there is a cholera epidemic. When the two of them arrive in the small town on the Yangtzee (after 2 weeks travelling) this is where the film really comes into its own.

The backdrop is stunning - breathtaking infact - and the music really sets the pace and mood of the film. Watts and Norton are fantastic in their performances and the whole film - visuals and sound - has a really gentle, almost dreamlike quality to it.

After a slow start, this film has quickly transcended into one that I will highly recommend to everyone. I really hope you enjoy as much as I have.

EDIT: I needed to add this now as I was right, I could not get the film out of my head and have just finnished watching it for the second time in a few days and I have also just started the book. My only regret is that I gave it 4 stars when I now truly believe that it deserves 5. I cannot recommend this film highly enough and it is fast becoming one of my favourite films of all time - there are not many that I can watch over and over but this is one I know I will treasure for a long time.