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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writers (WGA):
Ron Nyswaner (screenplay)
W. Somerset Maugham (novel)
Release Date:
19 January 2007 (USA) more
Tagline:
Sometimes the greatest journey is the distance between two people more
Plot:
A British medical doctor fights a cholera outbreak in a small Chinese village, while also being trapped at home in a loveless marriage to an unfaithful wife. full summary | add synopsis
Awards:
Won Golden Globe. Another 4 wins & 3 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(87 articles)
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User Comments:
Watts and Norton present The Painted Veil in vivid, true to life colors more (171 total)
Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only)| Catherine An | ... | Hostess | |
| Bin Li | ... | Te-Ming | |
| Bin Wu | ... | Student 1 | |
| Alan David | ... | Mr. Garstin | |
| Marie-Laure Descoureaux | ... | Sister St. Joseph | |
| Sally Hawkins | ... | Mary | |
| Juliet Howland | ... | Dorothy Townsend | |
| Toby Jones | ... | Waddington | |
| Lorraine Laurence | ... | Sister Maryse | |
| Johnny Lee | ... | Angry Chinese Man | |
| Li Feng | ... | Sung Ching | |
| Gesang Meiduo | ... | Amah | |
| Edward Norton | ... | Walter Fane | |
| Yin Qing | ... | Student 2 | |
| Ian Renwick | ... | Geoffrey Denison (as Ian Rennick) |
Additional Details
Also Known As:
Mian sha (China: Mandarin title)
Al otro lado del mundo (Argentina) (Venezuela) [es]
Der bunte Schleier (Germany) (DVD title) [de]
Duvak (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
El velo pintado (Spain) [es]
Falin ásýnd (Iceland) [is]
Il velo dipinto (Italy) [it]
Kärlekens slöja (Sweden) [sv]
Kærlighedens slør (Denmark) [da]
Kirjava huntu (Finland) [fi]
Kjærlighetens slør (Norway) [no]
Le voile des illusions (France) [fr]
Malowany welon (Poland) [pl]
O Despertar de Uma Paixão (Brazil) [pt]
O Véu Pintado (Portugal) [pt]
Oslikani veo (Croatia) [hr]
Színes fátyol (Hungary) [hu]
Vammeno peplo (Greece) [el]
more
MPAA:
Rated PG-13 for some mature sexual situations, partial nudity, disturbing images and brief drug content.
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
USA:125 min | Argentina:125 min
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Certification:
Malaysia:(Banned) | Singapore:NC-16 | Finland:K-11 | Ireland:12A | Hong Kong:IIA | Denmark:11 | UK:12 (DVD rating) | UK:12A (original rating) | South Korea:15 | Canada:G (Quebec) | Portugal:M/12 (Qualidade) | Canada:PG (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | USA:PG-13 (certificate #42973) | France:U | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Sweden:11
Filming Locations:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
The film was originally being developed by Yari's Stratus Film. When Stratus executive, Mark Gill, left for Warner Independent, he brought this project with him. more
Goofs:
Plot holes: In the time and part of the world that the film is set in, racial and ethnic bigotry was overt, with an even greater emphasis placed on one's "purity". Those who were ethnically or racially "impure" were doomed to a life of utter misery and poverty at the very bottom of the social order. In short, there is no way that the film's Yu would have been mustered into the army, much less, become an officer. more
Quotes:
Colonel Yu: I think China belongs to the Chinese people, but the rest of the world seems to disagree. more
Movie Connections:
Featured in "Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: (2007-01-06)" (2007) more
Soundtrack:
Gnossienne No. 1 more
FAQ
What does the title refer to?Is the story original with Maugham?
To what does "The dog it was that died" refer?
more
more (171 total)
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The Painted Veil has all of the elements a viewer looks for in a period piece set during the time of British colonial rule. Beautiful scenery and costumes, a cast of thousands, and enough background information to make you feel you are more educated about a time and place than you were before you saw the movie.
What this film offers the fortunate viewer that many other movies of its kind do not, are lead characters you can actually empathize with and grow to care about. "Walter" and "Kitty" are far more likable and worth rooting for than- I don't know, let's say- Ralph Fiennes and Kristin Scott Thomas in the English Patient (see? I don't even remember their characters' names.) The movie's tagline- "Sometimes the greatest journey is the distance between two people" succinctly points to the heart of this film, and what makes it work so well; the journey of a couple who married for the wrong reasons towards true intimacy with each other.
On one level, the plot is so simple and straightforward that a one line summary gives the whole story away, and for that reason, I will refrain from providing that information as much as possible. It is enough to know that it is the story of The Fanes- Walter, the shy, bookish bacteriologist, and Kitty, the shallow, haughty young woman he becomes infatuated in and persuades to marry him. Walter takes Kitty to Shanghai, where he works in a government lab. Circumstances lead Walter to re-locate them to a more remote area of China in the throes of a cholera epidemic. It is in this setting that the parallel stories unfold; the story of a doctor and his wife living in the house of a dead missionary's family as the doctor tries to get control of the conditions responsible for the epidemic, and the story of the couple's journey towards re-discovering each other.
The impressive skill that Ms. Watts and Mr. Norton bring to their work truly makes you believe that that the first challenge- combating cholera amid colonial unrest and nationalist hostilities is easier than the task of repairing a damaged marriage, and with each uneasy glance and every unsaid word, you feel what these two people feel. And that is the beauty of The Painted Veil. Fans of Ms. Watts and Mr. Norton will have reason to rejoice- this is a performance unlike any I have ever seen Ms. Watts give. There is nothing of what was becoming her trademark "emotionally fragile woman in shambles" persona on display here. And what of Edward Norton? Well, after his turn in The Illusionist earlier in the year and now "Walter Fane," all I can say is, move over, Ralph Fiennes- there's a new sexy "repressed, stiff-upper-lipped, sensually simmering under the surface" leading man in town.
The Painted Veil is an intelligently adapted, well-directed film with two charismatic, award-worthy lead performances and a strong supporting cast, including Liev Schreiber, Diana Rigg, and most notably Toby Jones as the Fanes' neighbor. It is also wonderfully entertaining, and a good introduction to the period piece/historical epic genre some viewers have been avoiding due to fear of suffocation.