Reviews of the "Painted Veil" are of interest to all fans not only of cinema, but also of foreign literature. Indeed, under this title in 2006, John Curran's lyric drama was released, which became the film adaptation of the novel of the same name by the English prose writer Somerset Maugham. Moreover, this was not the first attempt to present the book on a large screen. In 1934, the work was already filmed by Richard Boleslavsky. In this article, we will talk about each of these films, as well as about the novel itself.
Love story
Reviews about the “Painted Veil” were mostly positive, but before going into details, we will tell about the plot of this work to those who first encounter it.
The story unfolds in the 1920s in Shanghai. A couple of newlyweds from the UK come to an exotic country. This is the microbiologist Walter, the classic middle class, and the aristocrat Kitty Fein. The relationship between them is not simple, since they were married not out of mutual love.
The plot of the “Painted Veil” largely repeats Maugham’s novel with some deviations from the text. In China, Kitty, who openly despises her husband, begins an affair with Charlie Townsend. Walter suspects what is happening. Furious with jealousy, he agrees to go to work as a doctor in a small Chinese village in which a cholera epidemic broke out. He tells everything to his wife, offering her as an alternative to go to Townsend, so that he divorced for the sake of her missus.
Charlie expectedly refuses this offer. As a result, Kitty is forced to go to this dangerous place with Walter.
Death from cholera
After spending two weeks on an exhausting journey, the protagonists of the film "Painted Veil" in 2006 get to an abandoned village in which residents die one after another from a terrible infection that spares no one.
From morning till night, Walter disappears in the hospital, and Kitty has been sitting at home all this time, bored. Having decided somehow to get to the hospital where her husband works, she discovers that she is based on the basis of an orphanage. Only a few nuns work in it.
Watching what is happening around, Kitty for the first time in their marriage is imbued with respect for her husband. Soon she begins to help the nuns with her children, which already impresses Walter. Between spouses in the film "Painted Veil" in 2006, a real passion flares up. After some time, Kitty discovers that she is pregnant, but she is not sure that the child is from her husband. Walter doesn't seem to care. He is ready to accept the first-born anyway. But suddenly infected with cholera at work and suddenly dies.
Denouement
The final scene of the drama The Painted Veil amazes everyone without exception. Viewers see Kitty already in London with their older son. They buy flowers and then accidentally meet Charlie Townsend on the street.
Former lovers exchange cold greetings, Charlie offers to see each other in a more comfortable environment, but Kitty refuses. When a son asks his mother who this person is, she categorically answers that this is nobody.
Awards and prizes
According to reviews of the "Painted Veil", the picture was favorably received by critics and spectators.
She received many nominations for prestigious film awards. As a result, The Painted Veil managed to win the Golden Globe Award for Best Music. She went to the composer Alexander Despl.
Starring Edward Norton, as well as screenwriter Ron Nisuoner, were nominated for the Independent Spirit Award, but were left without an award.
But Nisuoner received the award of the National Council of Film Critics of the United States for the best adapted script, and the picture itself was included in the top ten best films of the year.
Naomi Watts
The actors and roles in The Painted Veil are surprisingly well matched. They correspond exactly to the ways that they were instructed to translate on the screen. So, the frivolous Kitty was played by the English actress Naomi Watts.
This is a real star of British cinema, which debuted on television back in 1986 in the Australian soap opera Return to Eden. At the moment, she already has several dozen roles on the big screen.
In the mid-90s, she moved to America. Her first successful projects were Rachel Talalay’s fantastic dystopia Tankist, Greg Spence’s horror film Children of the Corn 4: Harvest, and Marshall Herskowitz’s biographical melodrama Honest Courtesan.
Her fame came after the psychological thriller David Lynch's "Mulholland Drive" and Horror Verbinsky's horror film "The Call", in which she played the main roles. The actress was twice nominated for an Oscar for her work in the drama 21 grams by Alejandro Inarrito and the dramatic thriller Juan Antonio Bayon's Impossible, but she failed to win this honorary figurine.
In the painting “The Painted Veil”, Naomi Watts brilliantly fell into the image of the frivolous British aristocrat, who in a short time reinterprets her whole life, changing her attitude to her husband and everything that surrounds her.
Edward norton
Walter Fane in this picture was played by American Edward Norton. His debut on the big screen fell on the thriller Gregory Hoblit "Primeval Fear." He played the role of a young prisoner sociopath, for which he immediately received an Oscar nomination. But he failed to win the award on the first attempt.
True, Norton still does not have it, although he was considered two more times among the final applicants. After the image of neo-Nazi leader Derek Vinyard in Tony Kay’s drama "American X-History" and the role of the Narrator in the psychological thriller David Fincher's "Fight Club", which became an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Chuck Palahniuk.
Among his recent works are the tragicomedy of Wes Anderson “Hotel Grand Budapest” and the black tragicomedy of Alexandro Inarritu “Birdman”.
In The Painted Veil, Edward Norton plays a madly in love with an intellectual and a doctor, whom Kitty marries, only to get ahead of his younger sister and leave his parent nest as early as possible. Learning about the betrayal, he acts in a very original way, offering his wife a choice: to divorce or go with him to a remote village in which cholera rages.
Primary source
Maugham’s self-titled novel, which became the main picture, was written in 1925. The biographers of the British writer noted that his creation was inspired by scientific interest and an internship in the hospital of St. Thomas.
The idea of the work was relevant for the writer, as he constantly sought to create beauty, considering it the highest form of creativity. William Somerset Maugham depicts an example of this beauty and a well-lived life on the pages of The Painted Veil.
The work consists of 80 chapters of small size, in each of which the point of narration changes, which gives the work additional dynamics. Despite the fact that this book was never one of his most significant works, she nevertheless managed to occupy a certain place in the work of the novelist.
The finale of the novel
Interestingly, the ending of Maugham’s novel differs from the version presented in the film adaptation. In the book, Kitty, having returned to Hong Kong after her husband’s death, meets Charlie’s wife, who persuades her to stay with them until she leaves for England.
The attitude towards the girl has changed radically, all around her consider her a heroine who was not afraid to go for her husband on a deadly and noble journey. Having met Charlie himself, Kitty initially feels contempt for him, but then again gets carried away with him. After the resumption of this relationship, she is truly disgusted.
On the way to England, she receives news of the death of her mother, an imperious woman, because of which she was so anxious to leave her parents' home as soon as possible. On the estate, she finds her father, who is going to the Bahamas, where he was offered the place of chief judge. She persuades her to take it with her, as she expects to devote the rest of her life to her child, to save the baby from the mistakes that she once made.
Black and white film adaptation
The first film adaptation of this novel was black and white. The film "The Painted Veil" of 1934 was directed by Richard Boleslavsky, an American director with Polish roots.
The role of Walter Fane was played by Herbert Marshall. This is a British actor who made his debut in a big movie in the criminal still silent film by Jean De Limour "Letter" in 1929. The stellar work of his career can also be attributed to Joseph von Sternberg’s drama "Blonde Venus", where Marshall appears in tandem with Marlene Dietrich.
In the film adaptation of the Painted Veil of 1934, another great actress plays his wife.
Greta Garbo
The main role in the film of Boleslavsky went to the American-Swedish actress Greta Garbo. In Hollywood, she became famous in the mid-20s in silent films. It was in silent cinema that she reached the peak of her popularity, later becoming one of the few actresses who successfully switched to sound films.
At the same time, the producers were worried whether the viewer would love his "Swedish Sphinx" as she was called when she spoke. The unrest was in vain. Her hoarse and low voice with a Swedish accent instantly won the love of the public. Her first sound picture was Clarence Brown's drama Anna Christie.
Among her most famous films, George Fitzmoris’s melodrama Mata Hari and Edmund Goulding’s drama Grand Hotel are also worth mentioning.
Impression
Most reviews of the 2006 Painted Veil were positive. Especially critics and spectators admired the actors' play. Many even noted that the picture turned out to be much deeper, more interesting and penetrating than the literary original. The scriptwriters actually managed to demonstrate, albeit in a Hollywood manner, the evolution that occurred with the spoiled, wayward, selfish and infantile Kitty. It is especially important at the same time that as a result it has become different. Moreover, the change that took place in it took place completely and irrevocably.
Despite the fact that the proposed presentation of events differed from the original author's text, many felt that this was appropriate. For which they gave separate praise to the screenwriter and director. No wonder the picture was awarded a separate award for the best adapted script. Many left a strong impression that a different ending in this situation would have been simply impossible.
Music. Here is another thing worth mentioning when we discuss the 2006 film adaptation of the English novel. Most of the melodies that sound throughout the picture seem like a completely unobtrusive background to the story that unfolds before the eyes of the viewer. This is beautiful music that fits in the head with light tones, creating a mood appropriate to the environment.
True lovers of world cinema are advised to watch this film for everyone who really loves and appreciates cinema. The main thing is that not only should they be admired, but you can also learn how to build relationships in marriage.