The Painted Veil (2006)

[bush_cheney2004]

For those of you who enjoy films off the well beaten path, a bittersweet remake of The Painted Veil may delight. What's remarkable about this adaptation of the compelling William Maugham novel is the fact that it was filmed entirely in China, even the London scenes, which were left to a minimum. I guess even the commies love a great story.

The film gives an even handed treatment of the period as China transitioned to something....else, all while dealing with a local cholera epidemic and the "westerners" caught up in the drama. Hell, we even get an old favorite (Diana Rigg) as a nun!

Warner Bros. screwed up marketing and distribution for this film, and maybe that's why it retains its charm. Lush in sight and sound on a large display, this hardened "neocon" enjoyed the imperialist show.

Thank you Netflix...and...oh...be sure to wash your hands!

Edited June 15, 2011 by bush_cheney2004

[AngusThermopyle]

I have this movie in my collection but have never watched it. My collection contains somewhere over 1,000 movies so I think I just forgot that I have it. Maybe this weekend will be a good time to give it a go.

[Guest American Woman]

I've seen the movie and thought it was very well done. I enjoyed the story line and the scenery (which was spectacular) - as well as the historical aspect. I really should read the book.

[bush_cheney2004]

I've seen the movie and thought it was very well done. I enjoyed the story line and the scenery (which was spectacular) - as well as the historical aspect. I really should read the book.

The book apparently was a scandalous serialized novel with some controversy for the time (1925).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Painted_Veil_%28novel%29

But the core story holds up quite well....this is the third film adaptation.

Warning >Spoiler: (In the last scene, I found myself actually looking at the child's face to guess who the father was!)

[M.Dancer]

Warning >Spoiler: (In the last scene, I found myself actually looking at the child's face to guess who the father was!)

We have all done that...

[bush_cheney2004]

We have all done that...

Yea, but this was just a movie!

[bloodyminded]

For those of you who enjoy films off the well beaten path, a bittersweet remake of The Painted Veil may delight. What's remarkable about this adaptation of the compelling William Maugham novel is the fact that it was filmed entirely in China, even the London scenes, which were left to a minimum. I guess even the commies love a great story.

The film gives an even handed treatment of the period as China transitioned to something....else, all while dealing with a local cholera epidemic and the "westerners" caught up in the drama. Hell, we even get an old favorite (Diana Rigg) as a nun!

Warner Bros. screwed up marketing and distribution for this film, and maybe that's why it retains its charm. Lush in sight and sound on a large display, this hardened "neocon" enjoyed the imperialist show.

Thank you Netflix...and...oh...be sure to wash your hands!

I liked it too. And since I was starting to get...well, annoyed...with Edward Norton's every performance in every movie, it was nice to see him playing something different. Plus, I've got a crush on Naomi.

[bush_cheney2004]

I liked it too. And since I was starting to get...well, annoyed...with Edward Norton's every performance in every movie, it was nice to see him playing something different. Plus, I've got a crush on Naomi.

While it is true that Ms. Watts is easy on the eyes, clearly she is an accomplished actor, rising above the typical dreck that Hollywood serves up. As for Norton, he is the perfect stiff-lipped Brit. Like most great films or novels, character development emerges as the strongest attribute.

These type of movies are called "American period films" and differ slightly from authentic British productions, perhaps overemphasizing the (period) quirks that an American (or Canadian) audience finds most interesting.

[August1991]

The book apparently was a scandalous serialized novel with some controversy for the time (1925).

It wasn't scandalous and many novels were serialized at the time.

IIRC, The Painted Veil is one of the few Somerset Maugham novels where a woman is portrayed in good light. (And in this case, his portrayal is still rather clumsy.) I happen to like Somerset Maugham's writing style and even appreciate his view of humanity but it's patently obvious that he was a raging misogynist homosexual.

As to the movie, I thought that it was another bad Hollywood translation to the screen of a good Maugham story/novel. There have been several attempts and they universally miss the essential timing and drama and attention to detail of a good Maugham story.

Maugham has never met with respect from critics. But I suspect that people will read him long after Hemingway or even Shakespeare.

For the record, here's a very, very short story by Maugham:

The speaker is Death

There was a merchant in Baghdad who sent his servant to market to buy provisions and in a little while the servant came back, white and trembling, and said, "Master, just now when I was in the marketplace I was jostled by a woman in the crowd and when I turned I saw it was Death that jostled me. She looked at me and made a threatening gesture, now, lend me your horse, and I will ride away from this city and avoid my fate. I will go to Samarra and there Death will not find me."

The merchant lent him his horse, and the servant mounted it, and he dug his spurs in its flanks and as fast as the horse could gallop he went. Then the merchant went down to the marketplace and he saw me standing in the crowd and he came to me and said, "Why did you make a threatening gesture to my servant when you saw him this morning?" "That was not a threatening gesture," I said, "it was only a start of surprise. I was astonished to see him in Baghdad, for I had an appointment with him tonight in Samarra."

Edited June 18, 2011 by August1991

[bush_cheney2004]

It wasn't scandalous and many novels were serialized at the time.

Until you can prove otherwise, or alive in 1925, I will trust the Wiki references to "scandal" instead.

IIRC, The Painted Veil is one of the few Somerset Maugham novels where a woman is portrayed in good light. (And in this case, his portrayal is still rather clumsy.) I happen to like Somerset Maugham's writing style and even appreciate his view of humanity but it's patently obvious that he was a raging misogynist homosexual.

Maybe...I see it as a stroke for feminism instead.

As to the movie, I thought that it was another bad Hollywood translation to the screen of a good Maugham story/novel. There have been several attempts and they universally miss the essential timing and drama and attention to detail of a good Maugham story.

OK...others enjoyed it immensely!

[August1991]

Until you can prove otherwise, or alive in 1925, I will trust the Wiki references to "scandal" instead.

For some references, trust wikipedia at your peril. This is an example.

Oscar Wilde was scandalous in 1890. By 1925, after the deaths of World War I, a mere Somerset Maugham novel was not a scandal.

IIRC, in The Painted Veil, a foolish woman chooses to travel to a region of cholera where she learns that life is not so foolish. Where's the scandal? Rain was more scandalous. Maybe the wikipedia poster confused the two stories.

[bush_cheney2004]

...IIRC, in The Painted Veil, a foolish woman chooses to travel to a region of cholera where she learns that life is not so foolish. Where's the scandal? Rain was more scandalous. Maybe the wikipedia poster confused the two stories.

The "scandal" was the novel's intended or unintended relationship to living persons, their names, and successful lawsuits....as described in the Wiki entry. If this is in error, then I stand corrected.

[bloodyminded]

While it is true that Ms. Watts is easy on the eyes, clearly she is an accomplished actor, rising above the typical dreck that Hollywood serves up. As for Norton, he is the perfect stiff-lipped Brit.

Like most great films or novels, character development emerges as the strongest attribute.

I couldn't agree more.

These type of movies are called "American period films" and differ slightly from authentic British productions, perhaps overemphasizing the (period) quirks that an American (or Canadian) audience finds most interesting.

I'd never considered that, but it sounds about right.

[bush_cheney2004]

....I'd never considered that, but it sounds about right.

Consider another American "period film" about China made 45 years ago...The Sand Pebbles. Candice Bergen plays female lead opposite Steve McQueen. Different plot, but very similar tensions and conflict. I saw it in 1967 on the big screen, and it still holds up quite well.

Save for a good post secondary education or personal interest, most Americans would be/are oblivious to early 20th century events in China. Cinema is a lot more fun than reading a textbook. I had a teacher who used Dr. Zhivago (1965) to teach the Russian Revolution/Civil War...another American period film. In this film the "hottie" was Julie Christie! See a trend here?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eh6BUzEglsw&feature=related

Edited June 18, 2011 by bush_cheney2004

[August1991]

What a thread!

Consider another American "period film" about China made 45 years ago...The Sand Pebbles. Candice Bergen plays female lead opposite Steve McQueen. Different plot, but very similar tensions and conflict. I saw it in 1967 on the big screen, and it still holds up quite well.

I happened to like the movie The Sand Pebbles, and the novel by Richard McKenna. Here's an instance where Hollywood did the novel justice. The novel was published in 1962 and the movie was released in 1966. For Americans, the backdrop was Red China and the Vietnam War.

I recently watched The Sand Pebbles in bluray on the big home screen and I agree that it's still a good movie.

----

The Sand Pebbles and The Painted Veil? Why not add the The World of Suzy Wong into the comparison? Other than being about westerners in China, they're not the same story at all.

The Painted Veil is a remarkable Somerset Maugham novel because the female protagonist is capable of reflection. The movie version was inept.

The Sand Pebbles is remarkable because it's a melodramatic page-turner that brings in well broader world events. You learn about the US Navy before WWII and about foreigners in China before the 1949 Maoist revolution. The movie version is a widescreen, big star production that is as good as the novel.

Edited June 19, 2011 by August1991

[bush_cheney2004]

...The Sand Pebbles is remarkable because it's a melodramatic page-turner that brings in well broader world events. You learn about the US Navy before WWII and about foreigners in China before the 1949 Maoist revolution. The movie version is a widescreen, big star production that is as good as the novel.

Sand Pebbles is not without some fault when viewed today. I didn't like the cheap comic relief of broken Engrish "hot stem" in the engine room, then or now. Contrast this with how Colonel Yu in Painted Veil quickly dispatched Dr. Fane's clumsy attempt to communicate with him. I guess what I am saying is that whatever their fault(s) going from novel to screenplay, Painted Veil presented the Chinese as far more complicated and multi-dimensional than in Sand Pebbles, IMHO.

I would add that Painted Veil was actually filmed in rural "Red China", not Hong Kong or Taiwan as was the case with Sand Pebbles.

Edited June 19, 2011 by bush_cheney2004

[August1991]

The "scandal" was the novel's intended or unintended relationship to living persons, their names, and successful lawsuits....as described in the Wiki entry. If this is in error, then I stand corrected.

Maugham generally based his stories on what people told him. Heck, Cakes and Ale is based on the life of Paul Gaugin. The scandal here is no greater than someone claiming that Paul McCartney stole the riff in Yesterday. It's bound to happen, and misses the point.

[bush_cheney2004]

.... The scandal here is no greater than someone claiming that Paul McCartney stole the riff in Yesterday. It's bound to happen, and misses the point.

And if someone calls him on it, he would have to settle up in court, just like George Harrison did for He's So Fine > My Sweet Lord. That's why today there is a seven bar/note sampling threshold!

Edited June 19, 2011 by bush_cheney2004

[bloodyminded]

Save for a good post secondary education or personal interest, most Americans would be/are oblivious to early 20th century events in China. Cinema is a lot more fun than reading a textbook. I had a teacher who used Dr. Zhivago (1965) to teach the Russian Revolution/Civil War...another American period film. In this film the "hottie" was Julie Christie! See a trend here?

Oh yes. The trend of hotties in narrative art predates film by some millenia, I think. (Although Jane Eyre was supposed to be "plain," which is euphemistic for unattractive, I believe.)

In fact, the lovely female lead is so traditional and ancient that it can get confused in translation. When the British began rewriting "Troilus and Cressida," they (Chaucer and others) wrote disparagingly of the lovely lady's uni-brow, as the "flaw" in her beauty; except that to the ancient Greeks, such a feature was considered highly desirable. And if we watch some epic film or other today, I think all the female leads have waxed their bikini lines. Such was undoubtedly not the case, originally.

[bloodyminded]

Maugham has never met with respect from critics.

Not true. He isn't considered one of the giants, no.

But I suspect that people will read him long after Hemingway or even Shakespeare.

Time will tell, I suppose. This seems highly unlikely, especially in the case of Shakespeare, whose shadow is long indeed.