The Painted Veil - A Work of Art
June 22nd 2008 18:33
An exquisite film of visual splendour, with a finely worked narrative and striking score, John Curran’s The Painted Veil, the most recent adaptation of W. Somerset Maugham’s 1925 novel, is a pleasure to behold.
Kitty Garstin (Naomi Watts), a shallow woman who chooses to see both herself and others through only the most superficial gaze, marries Walter Fane (Edward Norton), an earnest, socially awkward man she has just met, after she has an argument with her mother. Walter, who fell for Kitty the moment he saw her, is a bacteriologist on leave from his work in China. Kitty accompanies him back to Shanghai, where she soon becomes bored with her hardworking husband and a life lacking in frivolity.
When Walter suggests a night out with Charlie Townsend (Liev Schreiber), a British diplomat and his wife, in an effort to please Kitty, she is at first reluctant, claiming that Mrs Townsend ‘puts on airs’. She comes around to the idea though, and after an evening of banter with Charlie, ends up having an affair with him.
Soon after, Walter informs Kitty that he has volunteered to take charge of relief efforts in an inland village experiencing a cholera epidemic, and that she is coming with him. When she refuses, he reveals that he knows all about her affair, and her only other option is divorce. If, as Kitty insists, she and Charlie and really in love, and he leaves his wife for her, Walter will divorce her quietly; if not, and she still refuses to accompany him, he will create a scandal. Kitty tells Charlie about the ultimatum. She quickly realises Walter was right about him, and agrees to go inland.
Kitty is at first miserable, living in rustic quarters compared to their Shanghai apartments, with her brooding husband, a man whose astuteness and tenacity she has grossly underestimated. No willing cuckold, Walter has hardened his heart to his wife, paying no heed to her melancholy and treating her coldly in order to punish her for her adulterous betrayal.
Things begin to change when Walter comes across his wife in the local orphanage. Sick of being idle and ignored, Kitty volunteers her services to the French nuns who run it, and through them, learns about a different side to her husband. She discovers that when Walter isn’t trying to ease the epidemic on the larger scale, he is at the orphanage, helping babies left alone in the wake of the disease. Walter in turn finds that there is more to his wife than a love of dancing and tennis. He starts to open up to her again, cautiously, and although it took treachery, relocation, and immersion in the darkest hours of human suffering, they find that, at last, they understand one another.
Alas, Walter and Kitty have more to worry about than the tenuous rebuilding of their relationship, as they struggle to make a difference to those stricken and suffering in a land of political unrest. As foreigners trying to combat an epidemic, they are in a precarious position, and not only due to their exposure to a savage and degrading disease.
Shot primarily on the Lijiang River, the cinematography is simply stunning, and is only enhanced by the unique coalescence of sound by Alexandre Desplat. But most importantly, this film has converted me into a bona fide Edward Norton fan. I knew he was talented, but in my mind, he has just achieved a whole new dimension. Norton appears to have matured beyond his almost boyish demeanour of the Fight Club decade, while having more depth and accessibility than his bearded self in The Illusionist. The strength of his portrayal of determination and refusal to be helpless in the face of insurmountable odds, coupled with the vulnerability of his feelings for his initially capricious wife, grant great complexity to the character of Walter, and imbue him with a fierce but quiet magnetism.
For Norton alone, this production is worth a couple of hours out of anyone’s day; when combined with the aforementioned elements of beauty, The Painted Veil becomes one of the best films I have seen this year.
Michaelie Clark
Watts and Norton as Kitty and Walter - Image courtesy of reelzchannel.com
When Walter suggests a night out with Charlie Townsend (Liev Schreiber), a British diplomat and his wife, in an effort to please Kitty, she is at first reluctant, claiming that Mrs Townsend ‘puts on airs’. She comes around to the idea though, and after an evening of banter with Charlie, ends up having an affair with him.
Liev Schreiber as the womanising Charlie Townsend - Image courtesy of about.com
Making the big journey - Image courtesy of usatoday.com
Kitty is at first miserable, living in rustic quarters compared to their Shanghai apartments, with her brooding husband, a man whose astuteness and tenacity she has grossly underestimated. No willing cuckold, Walter has hardened his heart to his wife, paying no heed to her melancholy and treating her coldly in order to punish her for her adulterous betrayal.
Kitty in the sedan chair - Image courtesy of telegraph.co.uk
Things begin to change when Walter comes across his wife in the local orphanage. Sick of being idle and ignored, Kitty volunteers her services to the French nuns who run it, and through them, learns about a different side to her husband. She discovers that when Walter isn’t trying to ease the epidemic on the larger scale, he is at the orphanage, helping babies left alone in the wake of the disease. Walter in turn finds that there is more to his wife than a love of dancing and tennis. He starts to open up to her again, cautiously, and although it took treachery, relocation, and immersion in the darkest hours of human suffering, they find that, at last, they understand one another.
Walter sees the effects of the epidemic - Image courtesy of hinet.net
Alas, Walter and Kitty have more to worry about than the tenuous rebuilding of their relationship, as they struggle to make a difference to those stricken and suffering in a land of political unrest. As foreigners trying to combat an epidemic, they are in a precarious position, and not only due to their exposure to a savage and degrading disease.
Shot primarily on the Lijiang River, the cinematography is simply stunning, and is only enhanced by the unique coalescence of sound by Alexandre Desplat. But most importantly, this film has converted me into a bona fide Edward Norton fan. I knew he was talented, but in my mind, he has just achieved a whole new dimension. Norton appears to have matured beyond his almost boyish demeanour of the Fight Club decade, while having more depth and accessibility than his bearded self in The Illusionist. The strength of his portrayal of determination and refusal to be helpless in the face of insurmountable odds, coupled with the vulnerability of his feelings for his initially capricious wife, grant great complexity to the character of Walter, and imbue him with a fierce but quiet magnetism.
Walter hard at work - Image courtesy of examiner.com
For Norton alone, this production is worth a couple of hours out of anyone’s day; when combined with the aforementioned elements of beauty, The Painted Veil becomes one of the best films I have seen this year.
Michaelie Clark
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