The Painted Veil (2006)

“Sometimes the greatest journey is the distance between two people.”

For a heart-wrenching night, this movie is to be rated 8 out of 10 as a fine getaway to bury us in a gravity of sad adventure before eventually plunging ourselves into a phase of heavy sighs of relief after letting every bitter emotion out of our overburdened feeling due to holdbacks. In hindsight, this chosen movie reviewed will knock a touchdown on anyone who is in the spirit of remembering how is it feel to be regretting over something and reflecting the blessing with what have been decided and had in the present moment.

Storyline:
It's 1920 and Kitty, a lonely socialite deprived by the situation which not suited her vivacious, vacuous, and above the company attitude, met Dr. Walter Fane, a bacteriologist who was instantly falling for her impeccable charms and immediately asked her hand for marriage and as a consequence, Kitty was faced with myriad of confusion due to her obnoxious family wanting to pair her off as immediately as they could possibly do. She accepted the proposal, reluctantly and started experiencing the chain effect of her decision. She was to be taken to the centre of China as Dr Walter Fane was going to be stationed there as an infectious disease researcher in a government lab. Every imagination, aspiration, and definition of happiness to her naturally ceased away as she was brought back to reality. Embarking to China, she met Charles Townsend (Liev Schreiber), a dazzling British consulate who ended up having an affair with of which known to her devoted husband. Devastated by his wife’s adultery, Dr. Walter Fane, in the spirit of vengeance, accepted to be transferred and stationed in the remote village of China, where a cholera outbreak was currently highly spreading and had diminished nearly half the population. Feeling secluded and accompanied only by a language-restricted Chinese widow; Chinese officer in charge to protect her from the ambush of the Nationalist; children and nuns from French convent; it was a struggle with her inner self, the unfamiliar circumstance, and the unintentional discovery about where happiness actually is. Her perception about life, love, and forgiveness forever changed.

Insight:
From every centre point of angle, this movie defines a sad irony of life which shall always be entangled with a sheer bitter-sweet kind of longing in the final phase. Sometimes, we want something that we cannot be having anymore; It’s like knocking at the door that has not yet been locked up but as we opened it, the person as our reason for knocking has long been gone. This is the movie that is about to give you that kind of a grapping sense of loss and regret, which cannot be undone, erased, or forgotten.

Info/Trivia:
Painted Veil showcases Edward Norton( The Illusionist, Fight Club, & The Bourne Legacy) and Naomi Watts( King Kong and Mulholland Drive) as the leading roles consummated with this dysfunctional relationship. Directed by John Curran who was once cooperated with Watts in the 2004 movie- We don’t live here anymore- this movie is based on the novel with the same name authored by W. Somerset Maugham in 1925 and has been screened for the third time, once in 1937 showcasing legendary actress, Greta Garbo. This movie has earned Alexandre Desplat ( French film composer arranging the original soundtrack of “The Ides of March”, “The Tree of Life”, “ The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”, “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close”—of which all of them either won or nominated to receive honorary awards in moving-image business ) his first Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score.(NA)