The Painted Veil is the third remake of a 1920 story by W. Somerset Maugham.  With outstanding performances all around, a strong script and the lush, evocative cinematography of on-location China, this film really shines.  Norton, as always, understands and portrays his character perfectly, showing us just how emotionally-deficit a man can be, even as he longs for love.  Schreiber is debonair and deceptively charming, and Jones manages to make his oddball character both admirable and creepy.  It’s Watts who steals this show, however, showing us that she has greater talents than anything she might do in the palm of an oversized ape.

Shot in a remote part of the Guangxi Province, The Painted Veil is one of those visual and cinematic masterpieces that we rarely see today.  It’s uncomfortable, but it conveys how complex relationships—and emotions—truly are.  Far removed from the myth-laden, sexually-charged promises of “true love,” which have been tantalizingly yet unrealistically fueled by Hollywood, this script by Ron Nyswaner (Philadelphia) reminds us of a time when couples married not for love but for social convention.  Despite the inevitable friction that is destined to occur between mismatched characters like Walter and Kitty, however, it’s hard to imagine that this was such a terrible thing—especially as we compare the current marriage rate (down 30 percent in 25 years) and the mostly stagnant divorce rate (currently estimated at 40 to 45 percent for first marriages).  Is it harder or easier to fall in love before making a commitment?  This film invites us into the discussion.

The Painted Veil conveys a disappointing message about religion, however.  On the one hand, we hear of the singular dedication of a missionary family who perished from cholera.  We also see true forgiveness and reconciliation in action.  But, from a faith perspective, the mother superior recounts how God has disappointed with his silence, mirroring Kitty’s relationship with Walter.  As a result, the nun says, their relationship has become one of duty without love.

Thus, without anything to counteract this message, the film seems to say that real passion can only be found in human relationships.  It’s a sad statement that will no doubt resonate for many—especially those whose only experience of God is religion, rather than relationship. 

But what believers know—and what the mother superior fails to convey, however—is the promise, experienced by so many others, that God longs to meets us not when we fulfill spiritual obligations for him, but rather, when we cry out and embrace him on his terms. 

AUDIENCE:  Very mature teens and adults

DVD EXTRAS:

• None

CAUTIONS:

• Drugs/Alcohol: Drinking in numerous scenes; brief drug use in one; couple refers to their "hangovers" in another.
• Language/Profanity: A few mild and/or “British” profanities.
• Sexual Content/Nudity: Various depictions of adultery and marital sexual situations, including brief nudity (upper rear female nudity and male rear nudity).
• Violence: Various depictions of disease, death and suffering, as well as life-threatening street violence.