Autos
Baby
Beauty
Computers
Education
Electronics
Finance
Health
Home & Garden
Local Places
Movies
Pets
Travel
Web Sites
more…
Baby
Beauty
Computers
Education
Electronics
Finance
Health
Home & Garden
Local Places
Movies
Pets
Travel
Web Sites
more…
Slow moving but beautiful scenery
looking for something different, interested in history, into movies that tell a great story
| Pros |
|
| Cons |
|
FEB
27
2008
The story starts in the mid-1920s with an aimless, rich and pampered young woman named Kitty. Other than play a little piano and flirt with the boys, she hasn't done much with her life. At a party, she meets Walter Fane, an earnest and reserved scientist who quickly courts Kitty. With nothing better to do, she agrees to marry him and they immediately depart for Shanghai, where he is a bacteriologist studying infectious disease.
Kitty is intensely bored in Shanghai, despite living in a good home. She quickly hooks up with a dashing womanizer named Charley and they begin an affair. Walter finds out about the affair and gives Kitty an ultimatum: Agree to a divorce on the grounds of adultery or travel with him to a remote village where there is a cholera epidemic. They negotiate a bit and Walter agrees that he will divorce her quietly if Charley will divorce his wife and marry Kitty. Of course, Charley will have none of it, so off to the village of pestilence Kitty and Walter go.
The village is backward compared to Shanghai and Kitty is appalled with the accommodations. She is intensely bored and looks for a spot of interesting trouble to get into. Walter is cold and uncommunicative, which is reasonable since all Kitty does is complain. Then, on a tour of the convent and hospital, she finally notices all the misery around her and decides that she can help. In a flash, she is teaching children and helping out around the convent, enough so that Walter notices her changed attitude. Walter admires the new Kitty, and Kitty seems to have a new respect for herself. Then she finds out she's pregnant.
How will Walter react to the pregnancy? Can he help the town eliminate cholera? Will he and Kitty reconnect and have a stronger marriage? Or will the disease around them finally catch up to them?
Naomi Watts was very good as Kitty, and was totally believable as a spoiled young woman. Likewise, Edward Norton was kind but awkward and uncommunicative as Walter the physician/scientist. The supporting cast was equally strong. However, the real star was the scenery, which was downright gorgeous.
My biggest problem with The Painted Veil was how quickly Kitty turned around from a spoiled brat into an intelligent, caring woman who actually deserved a guy as nice as Walter. I would have believed it better if it happened over the course of a year or two, but it takes place in just two months in the movie. I mean, she goes from Lindsey Lohan to Mother Teresa in two months... it's a little far fetched. It had to happen in two months so that the pregnancy could be stirred into the mix, but that just isn't enough time for Kitty to have a total personality transplant. Everything happens rather slowly, too. Don't expect a lot of action in The Painted Veil. There are also at least two continuity mistakes that I spotted. In one scene near the end
The Painted Veil was a respectable costume drama. However, the story is somewhat far-fetched and the pace is leisurely. Not bad but not wonderful, either. The scenery, on the other hand, is wonderful. I give three stars and a slight recommendation to The Painted Veil.
Last edited on Jun 08, 2008
The Painted Veil Theatre Release is recommended by bkovacs |
Search Amazon.com for The Painted Veil Theatre Release prices |
Comments about bkovacs’s Review
Other reviews by bkovacs
The Searchers 1956 Review - "Beautiful western with a grouchy John Wayne"Akeelah and the Bee Review - "This movie will put a spell on you"Philips - Coaxial Wall Plate SWV2023W/17 Review - "Tidy-looking connector...
Transcend 16GB SecureDigital SDHC Class 6 Card with Bonus SD Card Reader...
Movies & DVDs
I Love Lucy The Complete Series
5.00 overall from 12 reviews
from $100 at 3 merchants
5.00 overall from 12 reviews
from $100 at 3 merchants
Smallville - The Complete Seasons 1-5
5.00 overall from 7 reviews
from $270 at 1 merchant
5.00 overall from 7 reviews
from $270 at 1 merchant
Signing Time!
4.94 overall from 18 reviews
from $14 at 1 merchant
4.94 overall from 18 reviews
from $14 at 1 merchant
