The Painted Veil

The Painted Veil - a short story written by W. Somerset Maugham and they brought it to screen,which i have watched and it's really good. The movie is directed by John Curran and the scenes are taken in China.I haven't read the book yet but after watching the movie, it makes me feel like i really need to get the book as it is said that the original book is always better than movie, because the movie is really good,so i wonder how good will the book be.


The Painted Veil is a story that happened in the 1920's ,in China.It's a story based on certain themes such as loyalty, love, courage to change, cares and etc. The story starts when an upper classs woman - Kitty Garstin (Naomi Watts) met the middle class man - Dr. Walter Fane (Edward Norton) and they got married so fast due to family arrangement. Kitty had no feelings for Walter, but on the other side, Walter was deeply in love with her and will do everything to please her. After they got married, they went to Shanghai China, as Walter is a bacteriologist stationed in a government lab to study infectious disease. There, Kitty had fallen in love with the another white living there - Charlie Townsend, a married British diplomat, and of course a flirter . Kitty's ignorance had made her to have an affair with Townsend. However, when Walter found out later and in order to take vengeance against Kitty , he had volunteered to go to the cholera epidemic area. Kitty had no choice but to follow her husband after realizing that she had been cheated by Townsend. And it was there,where true love blossoms between Walter and Kitty. Kitty had changed from a spoiled ,bossy woman to a caring,loving lady and Walter had forgiven her as his love is too much,too deep towards Kitty.And when things started to turn good, unfortunate event happened...

Personally,i think the story is different from many other love stories because usually in love stories, both parties fell in love with each other and after going through all the obstacles, the lovers finally live happily ever after but in this story, Kitty had never in love with Walter although knowing how much Walter had fallen for her. And it was only after gone through all the events, she finally realized that the real love in her life is Walter.At first, i dont like the character Kitty as what she had an affair even though she is married,but as the story goes by, i started to like her more as she has the courage to change.She learnt from her mistake and changed to be a better person,which of course not much people can do.And for Walter, he is my favourite character, as his unconditional love for Kitty makes him a real gentleman.

The movie was well filmed.All the probes are incredibly

beautiful, the umbrella, costumes , the scenaries ,etc etc. I really like the way the director used in making this film, it makes the audience feel and understand what is true love and he successful in touching the hearts of the audience. From this movie,one can also see how's the life in China during the 1920s,where most of the Chinese people were poor and the raising in nationalisme among the people, where they were trying to get rid of the White invasion.The story showed lots of moral values and frankly speaking, i learnt a lot from the story.

In conclusion, i believe this is a worth-watching movie. It touches your heart and you will learn certain lessons. And for myself, i cant wait to get the book and read the original book...