The Painted Veil (film) Review

The Painted Veil                        

Director/Studio/Author: John Curran/Warner Home Video/w. Somerset Maugham

Original release date: May 8, 2007

Format, Genre and length: DVD/Drama/125 minutes

Publisher/Industry Age Rating: PG-13

Overall Personal Rating: ★★★★★

The time is 1925, the place China. Dr. and Mrs. Walter Fane, having lived in Shanghai for two years, are traveling to a remote area of the country because of a cholera epidemic, despite the fact that Walter Fane (Edward Norton) is a bacteriologist, not a physician. He and Kitty Fane (Naomi Watts) have lived in China since they were first married.

The trip to the cholera-infested village is a far cry from that of their arrival, as there is a palpable tension between them. It seems that Kitty was unfaithful to him with the Vice Consul of Shanghai, Charlie Townsend (Liev Schrieber). When Walter tells her of the epidemic he has volunteered to help with, she informs him that is no place for a woman, and refuses to go... until he tells her if she does not, he will file for divorce, which would be a heavy blow to her social position.

The Painted Veil, based on the novel by W. Somerset Maugham, explores the relationship between Walter and Kitty against the backdrop of the epidemic. I’ve covered the story in more depth in my review of the book. When I saw there was a film, I was curious to know how well it was adapted to the screen.

The story has been fleshed out somewhat, of necessity, as the novel is in Kitty’s POV, which does not tell us as much as we’d like of Walter and his mindset. I think the screenwriter bridged the gap rather well, and Edward Norton brings him to life, endearing him to me in a way the novel never did.

Naomi Watts plays Kitty well. She begins the film as a shallow, empty-headed woman whose sole goal in life is to be married, not for love but because it’s the thing to do. She justifies her affair to herself because she doesn’t love Walter, and she believes herself in love with Charlie. Well, Walter helps her to see Charlie for what he really is. Her journey is one of self-discovery. At the beginning, Walter loves her very much and she barely sees him, but over the course of the film, she comes to realize his true worth, as well as her own, as they find one another.

Can love make everything right? Unfortunately, some things are beyond its ability to heal, and the film has a bittersweet ending.

It is a well-done adaptation of the novel, and even though it romanticizes their relationship at the end, I think I prefer the changes, which make a potentially depressing film into a sad one. It may not be action-packed—Maugham’s stories seldom are—but it possesses a definite depth of character. Look for Toby Jones (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) as Waddington, the Englishman that becomes Kitty’s confidante in a strange land.

The cinematography is beautiful, and so is the music that is used in the soundtrack.

I highly recommend this film if you enjoy such films as The English Patient.

The Painted Veil Review

 The Painted Veil       

Author: W. Somerset Maugham

Publisher: Penguin

American release date: 1963

Format/Genre/Length: Novel/Drama/238 pages

Publisher/Industry Age Rating: not rated

Overall Personal Rating: ★★★★

Kitty Fane and her husband of two years, bacteriologist Walter Fane, live in Hong Kong, where he works. Kitty basically married Walter not for love, because she doesn’t love him, but because being unmarried at the age of twenty-five had become unbearable, and her eighteen-year-old sister is about to get married before her. Plus Walter wants to get married as soon as possible because he has accepted a position in Hong Kong, which means Kitty can escape her family. So Kitty accepts Walter’s proposal and they go to Hong Kong, even if she doesn’t love him. He obviously dotes on her, that should be enough, right?

Except it isn’t, and she’s having an affair with Charlie Townsend, Assistant Colonial Secretary.

Charlie’s older than her, forty to her twenty-seven, and he’s youthful, charismatic and very handsome. However, when Kitty hears the handle to her bedroom being turned, she thinks that her husband has come home early, and he knows. What is she to do?

The Painted Veil is one woman’s journey into self-realization. Kitty begins as a very shallow woman who thinks nothing of cuckolding her husband. She justifies her actions to herself because she enjoys what she’s doing, and believes herself to be in love with Charlie, who is also married.

The discovery of the affair brings ugly truths to light and takes both Kitty and Walter far away. Can what is broken be fixed? Or is this a deliberate ploy on Walter’s part to bring about Kitty’s death?

Kitty comes face to face with harsh realities and how she responds to them is the heart of the book, with her soul-searching and her insights into the person she is. This novel is very character-driven in that the action isn’t fast-paced, and it isn’t highly emotionally charged. But it is deep, as you delve into Kitty’s psyche and follow her journey to awareness.

It gave me a lot to think about. I can’t say I necessarily liked Kitty, and everything we learn is from her point of view, so we never get a good glimpse into Walter’s head, or the other characters, such as Waddington, or the Mother Superior. But every person Kitty meets has their part to play in her development.

If you like Maugham, you’ll certainly like this. Perhaps his novels don’t move like freight trains, but they are very deep and intense in their own way. I do recommend this one. I’m going to check out the movie too, and see what they did with the novel.