The Painted Veil

Yesterday I watched The Painted Veil after being intrigued by a reference to it on one of my favorite blogs.  Happily, I was able to rent it from Amazon Instant Video.  The movie is about a spoiled socialite named Kitty who marries a lowly doctor who fancies himself in love with her, just to get away from her domineering mother.  Kitty and her new husband go to China where he (Walter), works as a bacteriologist.  They have a rocky first few months of marriage which includes an affair between Kitty and one of Walter's acquaintances.  After Walter finds out, he gives her an ultimatum- either she go with him to a remote village during a cholera epidemic or he will divorce her.

The movie explores themes of love, forgiveness, marriage, and infidelity.  It was great to watch Kitty and Walter both develop individually and in their marriage.  I felt a deep empathy towards both characters and grew to like them and desperately wanted a happy ending for them. I found the historical backdrop of China in the 1920s interesting and now I'd like to learn more about the turmoil of those times.  There were some intense scenes depicting the cultural divide between the Chinese villagers' superstitions and Walter's desire to promote cleanliness and prevent the spread of disease.

The soundtrack was one of the most beautiful I've ever heard and I re-listened to it on YouTube as I was reading last night.  The scenery was incredible as well and was filmed on location in China.  Naomi Watts and Edward Norton both gave amazing performances and I am now interested in watching more the films they are in.  Some might consider this a slow movie but I loved everything about it except the ending, which was not what I had expected.  The Painted Veil definitely takes the viewer on an emotional roller coaster, but it was totally worth it.