Movie Review – The Painted Veil(2006)

John Curran directed The Painted Veil(2006). The film's name, The Painted Veil, ironically refers to the nasty and tragic marriage behind the beautiful surface. People are tainted in the marriage.

The story is set in the 1920s. The British socialite Kitty Garstin Fane(Naomi Watts) gets married to a bacteriologist Walter Fane(Edward Norton). It is a perfect moment when the groom lifts the veil of the bride. It is supposed marriage is the destination of happiness and they get married to their loved one. However, they all have their expectations and objectives of marriage. She agrees to this loveless marriage to get rid of her mother. The doctor thinks that they match each other’s background. After the grand celebration of the marriage ceremony, their dull daily marriage life begins. She still looks for passion after getting married. Later, she has an affair with Charlie Townsend(Liev Schreiber) who is someone’s husband. Her husband finds out that she is an infidel to him which he cannot endure and tortures her on purpose. He suggests she go to China to help those patients who have cholera with him. No husband can accept the betrayal of his wife.

It is said that a woman's heart is like a needle in the sea. Her husband suggests a divorce for adultery. However, he knows that that guy will not marry her and forces her to go to China to torture her cunningly. On the other hand, Charlie Townsend does not want to marry Kitty. He just wants to have an affair. It is just her wishful thinking to be passionate in love. Kitty, Walter and Charlie are only considered themselves. 

In China, the village is still developing. All the villagers are workers and farmers. Their skins are dry and brown due to long-term working under the sun. People take rickshaws as a transportation. But, the scenery in China is like a landscape painting. Kitty and Charlie have a short cooling-off period when they explore the village. In London, she was brought up with theatre, dance and leisure activities. She goes to the ball to socialize and dance like a butterfly as entertainment. Women were still dependent on men in the 1920s. Kitty also relies on her father. Females were also restricted in their choice of marriage. Since she is too carefree and enjoys life too much, her mother wants her to settle down and marry a reliable and compatible man. But she believes in free love. She does not have to worry about her living. But, canaries have no freedom. She lives in a bigger cage only. She still has her constraint. She enjoys watching drama. After watching a drama in China, she secretly has an affair with Charlie. She cannot forget about him. 

In a village in China, the kids do not know how to play the piano. What is art? They do not ask this kind of question as they have to fulfill their survival needs first. Those children in the orphanage learn sewing to acquire a skill to make a living. She never lives like that. She does not like to be in China. She is suffering. Especially, it is at the time of the cholera epidemic. Getting cholera causes death. Her husband volunteers himself to rescue people. She can't have fun. 

They are mean to each other. They do not talk when having their meals together. Being silent is a way to punish the wife. Meanwhile, he refuses to have the unhygienic vegetable. He asked Kitty, “Do you want to die?” Then he eats the vegetables.

Kitty plays a significant role in this film. The life of a spoiled female starts to become tragic and misery. Her unsettled soul makes her life a disaster. The selfish man she has an affair with does not want to start a serious relationship with her. She does not fall in love with the reliable man she marries. When they move to China, there is a big contrast between living in London and a village in China at the time of the cholera epidemic. There are dead bodies on the mountain road in China. The miserable sick patients make her cry. The big change from enjoying the heavenly entertainment to facing the life and death caused by a disease makes her accommodate difficulty. Through the time spent in the orphanage, they reignite their affection towards each other. At first, the husband wants to make her uncomfortable and he makes it. Kitty does not notice the sly side of her husband. Man can also do horrible things out of love. When he takes care of the patients unconditionally, she starts to appreciate his job. When Walter sees his wife sleep with the poor kids, he starts to take pity on her. Suddenly, she discovers that she is pregnant but she does not know who the father is. She suspects that Charlie Townsend is the biological father. At that time, Walter just accepts the reality and embraces her.

In the end, he dies because of getting cholera. Many years later, Kitty meets Charlie Townsend again. Her kid asks who the man is. She replies, it does not matter. She does not let her daughter meet her biological father. That is the time when she lives more down-to-earth and independently. She becomes mature and recognizes people carefully after facing the death of her husband. She is changed after going to the village.

In addition, it seems the film is the cultural product of the cultural exchange between British and Chinese in the 1920s. The film is adapted from the novel The Painted Veil. The author William Somerset Maugham was inspired to write the novel by traveling to China. It seems that the United Kingdom was way superior to China in the 1920s.

To conclude, Eileen Chang says, life is a resplendent gown. Crawling with fleas. Kitty and Walter are not truly satisfied with the perfect match marriage. It makes people suffocate in the big difference between the expectation and the reality of marriage. Kitty’s non-satisfaction in marriage makes her miserable.