Tuesday, December 5, 2006
The Painted Veil
This is the third time (the other two films are made in 1934 and 1957, which I have seen none) to bring W. Somerset Maugham's novel "The Painted Veil" to the big screen. Edward Norton plays a British doctor Walter Fane. In the film, there was a cholera breakout in Guilin (桂林), China in 1925 (which is a fiction, not true). Walter went to a small village in Guilin to help sick people and to research the disease. And, he brought his newly wed wife Kitty, played by Naomi Watts, with him. During the hardship in China, they rediscovered themselves and each other. "The Painted Veil" is a quite beautiful film, and I am not only talking about the breathtakingly gorgeous landscape. It terrifically develops the relationship between the two main characters with great details and precise control. All the performances in the film are excellent. That being said, I feel that I am much an outsider observing events unfolding on the big screen. I never feel that I am touched or emotionally involved in any way with the characters. My rating: 7 out of 10. |
