The Painted Veil | 
 enlarge | Director: John Curran (ii)
Actors: Naomi Watts, Edward Norton, Liev Schreiber, Toby Jones, Diana Rigg
Studio: Warner Home Video
Category: DVD
List Price: $27.95
Buy Used: $6.34
You Save: $21.61 (77%)
New (49) Used (38) from $6.34
Avg. Customer Rating:  165 reviews
Sales Rank: 1905
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Surround Sound, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), French (Original Language), Spanish (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled)
Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 125
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: WARD58557D
UPC: 012569585577
EAN: 0012569585577
ASIN: B000NOIX48
Theatrical Release Date: January 19, 2007
Release Date: May 8, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: PLAYS GREAT. IMMEDIATE, FIRST CLASS SHIPPING
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Product Description
The story of a young english couple walter a middle class doctor & kitty an upper-class woman who get married for the wrong reason & relocate to shanghai where she falls in love with someone else. When he uncovers her infidelity he takes a job in china & takes her along which brings new meaning to them. Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 05/06/2008 Starring: Naomi Watts Liev Schriber Run time: 125 minutes Rating: Pg13
Amazon.com
Produced by Edward Norton and Naomi Watts, The Painted Veil works well as a movie--even better as an actor's showcase. The year is 1925. When her domineering mother pressures her to marry, Kitty (Watts) settles for shy bacteriologist Walter (Norton). Then Walter is transferred from London to Shanghai and the lonely and bored Kitty drifts into an affair with married diplomat Charlie (Liev Schreiber). When Walter finds out, he makes a startling proposition: either Kitty accompanies him to the cholera-infested countryside or he'll divorce her. With no other prospects, she comes along on what looks like a double-suicide mission. Based on the novel by W. Somerset Maugham, The Painted Veil was adapted by Philadelphia's Ron Nyswaner (who knows a little something about infectious diseases). As two previous versions made little impact--despite Garbo's presence in the 1934 melodrama--John Curran's film is sure to stand as definitive. Interestingly, Norton, who studied Chinese history at Yale, chose Watts as his co-star, while Watts chose Curran, for whom she appeared in 2004's underrated We Don't Live Here Anymore. Filmed on location, the handsome production is, in many respects, just as old-fashioned as its source material--sex is merely suggested and Kitty is shocked that their English neighbor (Toby Jones) has a Chinese lover--but the ending packs a feminist twist. Mostly though, The Painted Veil is about the acting, and Watts and Norton, along with Diana Rigg as a disillusioned Mother Superior, have rarely been better. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
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| Customer Reviews: Read 160 more reviews...
 A Gem December 2, 2008
It is an absolutely wonderful movie. It's not for everyone, only those who like a character driven story measuredly unfolding in front of their eyes. It is romantic, but unsentimental, smart, has depth and texture. Every aspect of the movie is perfectly done.
 a lesson in forgiveness November 29, 2008
The Painted Veil is truly a lesson in forgiveness. As the couple is full of resentment and hurt, they see each in other in a different light after traveling abroad. The doctor brings out the best in his wife, and the wife sees how dedicated and loving he is. Their love grows as time passes. It's inspiring and moving. The scenery is simple and beautiful.
Good!! November 29, 2008
My 2 friends that I purchased this movie for loved it. They thought it was very good.
A Simple Beautiful Story November 10, 2008
True Love story fully living up to all my personal expectations of a story in this subject. Sometimes the only way to deal with the hurt of a betrayal, is to fully put oneself in a suicidal situation in the hopes of dying. And at that point in the midst of that fiery passion, one can grow in forgiveness wings of an unexpected flight. Sometimes the confrontation of death, can trail an access point directly to the heart & soul. Most movies which tried to capture love, always left me shaking my head at the ignorance of at least one scene or another, more often than not of which one disgraceful scene after several others. However, I'm sure most may not be able to appreciate the beauty in this simple story, but as for me I give it all 5 stars.
Not Maugham's ending, but very good November 3, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Hollywood just can't leave well enough alone. Way back in 1925 Somerset Maugham wrote a truly forward-thinking feminist story about a vapid woman who comes to realize there's more to life than the empty fun that she's always craved and been led astray by. Ever since, Maugham's ending has been twisted by filmmakers to make it a second-chance-at-love romance. This version even adds a little Chinese political subplot that was entirely absent from the book. So the Chinese background gets modernized, while women are thrown back into love story land in the last reel. So it goes.
But when a movie is this well put together, who cares? The screenplay--despite my quibble with the direction the end takes--is very sharp. The scenery is magnificent, and the acting is stellar. Naomi Watts captures Kitty Fane's vapidity and makes her not just understandable but sympathetic. Edward Norton is likewise great as her husband Walter, a man who in his anger at being cheated on decides to take them both on a suicide mission to a cholera-plagued area. The supporting cast is excellent--especially Toby Jones and Diana Rigg.
The movie holds up to repeated viewings because the performances are so good, and the mood created by the director is mesmerizing. Music plays a big part in its success. The selective use of a piano piece by Satie is enhanced by a score that sounds as if Satie had composed the whole thing. I actually scrambled to find out whether the waltz featured in the score was Satie's--it wasn't. Just beautiful.
It's sad that movies like this don't meet with more success in the movie theaters.
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