The Painted Veil (12A, 125 mins) Stars: Naomi Watts, Edward Norton, Liev Schreiber, Toby Jones Directed by John Curran
SOMERSET MAUGHAN’S novel about the Brits in early 20th-century China has been filmed twice before – once with Greta Garbo – but possibly never more beautifully than in this latest version.
Filmed in southern China with some breathtaking landscapes – the mountains look like bowler hats – the country itself is one of the leading characters.
The two leading human characters – married couple Walter and Kitty Fane – are played by Edward Norton and Naomi Watts as typical 1920s Brits, he all stiff upper lip and non-communicative, she a bit of a flirt who has to conduct her affair in secret.
It is their complex relationship which is at the heart of the film, although the problems of China at the time are not forgotten.
Director Curran and his scriptwriter, Ron Nyswaner, allow the relationship story to take its time and develop slowly.
For some people, this will make the movie a mammoth bore but for those willing to go along with it, it is totally fascinating.
Early scenes set in London show how the pair came together and at that stage things happen quickly.
Kitty is getting left on the shelf, according to her parents, while she just wants to have fun.
But, at a party, she is spotted by biologist Walter and he is very soon proposing. For some reason, she accepts.
He is working in Shanghai and it soon becomes apparent she is bored, not only by the lifestyle (nothing to do) but her incredibly boring husband. So she has a fling with British diplomat Charlie Townsend (Liev Schreiber).
When Walter discovers the affair, he offers divorce if her lover offers marriage: despite all his fine words, Charlie is unwilling to leave his wife.
At this stage, Walter volunteers to help tackle a cholera outbreak in the Chinese countryside and insists that his unwilling wife go with him.
It is their journey there that opens the film with the couple looking miserable having been dumped in what seems to be the middle of nowhere in the pouring rain.
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