Painted Veil [DVD] [2007] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

Enjoyed this DVD - The Painted Veil - good story and great actors.

Edward Norton (such an underrated actor) and Naomi Watts both excellent in a the tale of a marriage that probably shouldn't exist but how respect and love grow through the experience of shared adversity. From the original brilliant book by Somerset Maugham. Recommend.

Nicely balanced story, well acted. A bit mannered, but worth watching

For some reason this film bypassed me on its first release, but eventually I caught up with it at the cinema and on dvd. If you like intelligent, beautifully acted literary adaptations, if you like beautiful scenery, and if you like real emotional content in your films, I heartily recommend The Painted Veil.It's set in China during the rise of the Nationalist movement (1920s), and really benefits from actually being filmed there. It revolves around the relationship of a married couple Walter and Kitty Fane - brilliantly portrayed by Edward Norton and Naomi Watts.Kitty marries Walter to escape from her mother, despite not being in love with him. They begin married life in Shanghai, where they are soon in the middle of the ex-pat British community where Kitty meets a government official and begins an affair. When Walter discovers her infidelity he exacts a fairly nasty revenge: accepting a post in an rural area called Mei Tan Fu with a cholera epidemic and insisting Kitty accompanies him. The main part of the story unfolds here, and is where you really get to know the characters and see them discovering each other.At first there is anger and bitterness (he for her betrayal and his own foolishness in marrying her, she for his revenge but more for her lover's betrayal), but in the difficult environment they are forced onto their own resources. This is particularly enlightening for Kitty who has previously led a fairly shallow and frivolous life.As Kitty and Walter discover there is more to respect in each other, they gradually fall in love against a backdrop of both Nationalist unrest and the local politics of trying to keep the cholera at bay.The excellent leads are superbly supported by Liev Schrieber as the faithless lover, Toby Jones as a cynical neighbour, and Diana Rigg as the Mother Superior of the convent which provides the nursing support to Doctor Fane and his assistant, and a fantastic Chinese cast.It's a film you can watch again and again because it works on so many levels.

I first saw this on TV a few weeks ago, and was strangely haunted by it for days - so bought the DVD (which, like others here, I find myself watching again and again)A question, though. The opening scene is of Walter watching Kitty descend a stairway, and he appears struck by her. In what is (apparently) the very next day, he arrives at the door to propose to her - amidst conversations with her family about whether or not she is in love with him. Are they supposed to have been seeing each other for a while, with the scene the evening before just being one more meeting between them? Or is Walter proposing to Kitty after meeting her just that once?Also, in the passionate scene in Kitty's room, when Walter comes towards her and they start to embrace, Walter's shirt is (very romantically!) slipped from his shoulders by Kitty - then it's suddenly back on again - only to disappear as they make their way to the bed...! Still a very romantic scene - but sloppy editing!Apart from that, this is a very beautiful film - and one I would recommend to anyone. (Just wished the ending had been different.........)

bought as a present and arrived promptly and in very good condition thanks

I ordered this dvd from Amazon because I happened to see it on someone's favourites list and thought it sounded intriguing. Then I read the reviews, and ordered it because so many recommended it. I have watched it 3 times. Now, I can't imagine why I didn't notice this exquisite film before. The photography is sublime. The acting is perfection. The story, (which stays very close to the Maugham novel) is interesting, unusual and extremely moving; the music supports and enhances the film. Others have called this film a gem and I absolutely agree. This is one to keep, and enjoy time and again.

Bought as I enjoyed the book for book group. The scenes did conjure up an atmosphere of that period in China. I was disappointed with the Naomi Watts casting but it was relatively faithful to the novel with some amendments.