The Painted Veil
Review of the 2006 romantic period drama starring Edward Norton
Glancing at the tagline for The Painted Veil, you could be forgiven for thinking you had misread it: ‘Forgiveness comes at a price.’ Sorry? Shouldn’t that be ‘Revenge/murder/adultery comes at a price’? What starts out as a run-of-the-mill romantic drama soon becomes a highly original and beautifully told story of emotional and political turmoil set in 1920’s China.
Based on the novel of the same name by W. Somerset Maugham, it tells the story of society girl Kitty Garstin (Naomi Watts) and Dr Walter Fane (Edward Norton). Kitty is, in her mid-twenties, becoming something of an embarrassment to her family.When they make it clear that they want her married off as soon as humanly possible, a wedding to Fane - a virtual stranger - is the only escape route open to her.
Setting up home in Shanghai, fun-loving Kitty is left cold by her husband’s starchy intellectualism and lack of humour, not to mention his interest in studying infectious diseases. She embarks upon an intense affair with diplomat Charlie Townsend. When Walter finds out about it, he offers to divorce her quietly on condition that Charlie’s wife do the same. The alternative is out of the question: a scandalous divorce, with her reputation left in tatters.
Kitty is broken-hearted to find that, unlike her, Charlie has no intention of getting a divorce. The only option open to Kitty is to remain in her claustrophobic, loveless marriage. Unfortunately, this entails accompanying Walter to care for the sick in a remote Chinese town rife with cholera. It is a time of violent political upheaval in China, and Kitty soon realises that if the cholera (or the boredom) doesn’t kill her, nationalist insurgents may well do the job instead.
What future can their relationship possibly have? Never having loved Walter in the first place, Kitty has betrayed him in the most clichéd, yet painful way possible. His revenge is to expose her to this highly infectious and fatal disease. ‘Do you despise me?’ a stunned Kitty asks. ‘No,’ Walter answers, ‘I despise myself for having loved you once’.
The unexpected chain of events that follows is a refreshing change from the predictable fare on offer from the Hollywood stable of romantic drama. With near-perfect English accents, Norton and Watts give memorable performances as two desperately unhappy and flawed characters, battling with the oppression of the social decorum of the era. Norton is especially good, playing against type.
In this film director John Curran manages to weave together seamless performances, an atmospheric score and sumptuous photography to create a surprisingly tense narrative. The viewer is quite sure what is going to happen next.
Winner of a Golden Globe for best original score and NBR award for best screenplay, The Painted Veil is a moving and thought-provoking tale of betrayal, forgiveness and redemption that stays with the audience long after they have left the cinema.
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