2006, China/USA
Adventure, Drama, Romance
Strikingly beautiful, fraught with deception and overflowing with cholera, The Painted Veil is not a lighthearted romance. Shaped from the piercing words of W. Somerset Maugham (Being Julia, Up at the Villa), director John Curran (We Don't Live Here Anymore) builds the story of a marriage by first tearing it apart.
In 1920s London, a selfish and haughty young woman has found that she has worn her welcome in her own home, as her siblings successfully leave the nest and begin their own families. She accepts the impetuous marriage proposal of a lowly microbiologist and is shanghaied to China with a man that she barely knows. Missing the glitz and glamour of her previous life, she soon finds herself in the arms of a debonair vice consul (a charmingly loathsome Liev Schreiber). Not oblivious to the affair, her husband soon gives her an ultimatum: a public divorce that would destroy her reputation, or escorting him to the hinterlands of China and a cholera ravaged village.
Obviously a work of passion, the film was produced by its two impressive leads, Naomi Watts (21 Grams, King Kong) and Edward Norton (The Illusionist, Down in the Valley). Watts’ character, Kitty, slowly evolves from apathetic oblivion to a concern for the disease-stricken community that surrounds her. And it is a gradual development; there is no sudden epiphany or a morning in which she wakes up with a can-do attitude. Kitty must first shed her old skin and learn that there is far more to the world than her immediate entertainment.
Norton’s character, Walter, must also gain a new appreciation for life and his impulsive marriage. He had hoped that their differences could be sidestepped and that his new bride would learn to be more like himself. In the shame of her infidelity, Walter chooses to not only punish her but also himself for acting the fool. What was once naivety becomes a hardened callous of pain, and he throws himself so forcefully into studying the horrific disease that envelops their village that the threat of contracting cholera would seem just punishment for their sins.
As the newlyweds struggle with their own class differences, together they must learn to acknowledge the culture differences of this strange land. As a researcher, Walter must challenge religious practices with the practicality of preventing the spread of disease. As a formerly privileged society girl, Kitty must realize the sacrifice by others for her comfort and recognize that there are more pressing concerns in her new country.
Her eyes are opened with the help of an Englishman who has gained an understanding of the country and its people, played with rich subtlety by Toby Jones (Infamous). The Mother Superior (a strong and pragmatic Diana Rigg, "The Avengers’" Emma Peal) of the hospital at which Walter works helps Kitty to realize the imperfections of life, as she has grown into a peaceful indifference in her relationship with God while she is surrounded by so much suffering.
Cinematographer Stuart Dryburgh (The Beautiful Country, Lone Star) exhibits the spectacular peaks and smokey rivers of the Guangxi region before focusing on the downtrodden people who inhabit them. The frustrations of the country are apparent through the Nationalist riots, as characters begrudgingly straddle the line between progress and tradition.
Curran and his cast have carefully presented a delicate situation that demands harsh solutions. A couple must learn from each other before they can build an honest relationship, and clashing cultures must do the same. Love in the time of cholera is no easy task, but this film proves that it is possible.