The Painted Veil (2006)

Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

While the book is fascinating. The movie is so weird. I am quite disappointed about the start of the movie, which was so abrupt. The scenes about China, so weird and not true at all.

Story of a girl who marries young bacteriologist for wrong reasons, about their journey to epicenter of cholera in some province in China and even harder journey towards mutual understanding and love. Quite a moving story and yet I'm not moved at all. Either I became cold-hearted over night or this essentially strong story isn't told in a strong enough way. I never heard of this director before, but cast is really great. In leading roles we have Naomi Watts and Edward Norton and they are the main reason I saw this movie in a first place. The most prominent side roles belong to Liev Schreiber (Ray Donovan), Toby Jones (Dr. Jenkins in Wayward Pines, Dobby in Harry Potter) i Diana Rigg (Olenna Tyrell in GOT). Those actors themselves make this movie worth watching, but don't expect too much. Nice drama for one watching and nothing more than that.6/10The last scene is so cliche it made me wanna throw up.

Naomi Watts plays Kitty who is this character who marries this guy for the wrong reasons. They quickly learn that they aren't necessarily compatible in every sense. Kitty likes to play games. Her husband doesn't (at least not the type of games Kitty likes to play). So she has an affair and we get a sex scene.So you get all excited and you catch a glimpse of Naomi Watts riding this guy cowgirl style. And you can kind of see that the director is very concerned with not showing her bosom and you kind of think why have a sex scene in the first place if you're not going to focus on this aspect of the story in any significant detail? It would have been cooler if we would have seen sex scenes more like in that Cronenberg movie "A dangerous method" where we see what exactly gets Keira Knightley's character off. A missed opportunity, I say.But yeah, the story goes on and on about how her husband can't deal with the fact she had an affair and then the guy she had an affair with doesn't want to marry her and she stays with her husband who starts treating her like dirt as an act of revenge and/or sadism and then as time goes by they sort of get to know each other more and start liking each other more but it's too late as the husband dies and she is of course bereft and then later she meets the guy she had an affair with and gives him the cold shoulder.I didn't really like it as a dramatic, romantic fantasy. You've got people dying of cholera in it, for Pete's sake. But it doesn't necessarily see itself as such, I think. This movie is not just supposed to be fun, you see? You also have e.g. a scene where a nun says profound things about relationships and we, the audience, are invited to think about that for a bit. It also somewhat paints a picture of society in the 1920s and so on.And that's also where I think the movie isn't a complete success. It tries to put all these things together into one movie and it doesn't all come together as an entirely coherent whole. Watching this movie wasn't a truly poignant experience which I think they did intend for it to be.

Handsomely crafted, with good performances this movie is a gem for romantic drama lovers . characters are complex , environment is beautiful and the music is just amazing ( Alexander Desplat won Golden globe for it ) . the few problems i have with the movie is that it plays a little monotone and the Kitty's character falling in love after all what happened felt a little too easy too simple . characters definitely had potential to show more depth . Love how they handled the love story in the movie , in the beginning Walter falls in love with Kitty but it does not work since she is not in love with him and ends up with affair on the side . during the movie they get to know each other with all their problems , weaknesses and nature and the feelings start to come . the movie shows that you can't truly love someone you don't know . one of my favorite scenes in the movie was when Walter was watching Kitty playing piano and falling in love with her but this time he knows what he loves her for . The Story is happening during a cholera epidemic which makes it story more interesting to watch and gives good side plot to the movie . overall the story is predictable but the result is more than satisfying .