Moustroll Good movie but grossly overrated

Stellead Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Logan By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

srhope-34746 So far I've not been able to watch more than the first few scenes. Not owing to any gruesome horror, but because I feel I've seen this film many times before. I stopped at the scene in the Chinese theatre. When Liev Schreiber's character tells Watts about the theatrical plot, he is so obviously telling her what she feels about her mistaken marriage, it is the writer and director choosing to verbalise rather than let the characters show through their actions and emotions. Too clumsy and obvious to generate real feelings in me at least.

Filipe Neto This film is the result of a partnership between the US and China. The script is a cheap romance, in which a futile girl marries without love and betrays her husband, a doctor who truly loves her. From there, they live a marriage that only exists formally and things get worse when they go to a secluded hamlet in China, where an epidemic of cholera broke out. The country's political situation will also cause problems, as China, recently transformed into a republic with the deposition of the last emperor, becomes a troubled country, with internal conflicts and a huge aversion to foreigners.The plot adapts to the cinema an absolutely dry and heartless novel, but it does so in a way that's sometimes a bit melodramatic. I understand the intention: to increase the dramatic effect, the writer sweetened the story and altered it a bit, to make it more digestible. That's good but, just like when making a cake, we have to be careful not to overdo the amount of sugar. Unfortunately, sometimes it abuses the sugar but, at the same time, the epidemic and the misery of the people help to bring the film to a more realistic background and cut through this excessive sweetness. Thus, everything becomes more balanced, harmonious and pleasant. The political part of the plot, however, seem to be totally out of context and never fit into the overall story. I say this because this didn't make any difference in the story itself. It's totally dispensable. What happened here? Did the writer decided not to develop this subplot or Chinese CP demand that the film speak of this issue in a sort of political-historical revisionism? If the later was the true, it was something that did not really interest. China, however it tries to look like a westernized country, will only be truly modern with free and multiparty elections, a free press and freedom of opinion. None of these things exist behind the polluted and ultra-modern image that China likes to show us, and there is no smoke curtain strong enough for the Chinese dictatorship to hide that.Edward Norton and Naomi Watts are two well-known and talented actors. The two have already seen their names on the list of Oscar-nominated actors. They worked very well but Norton's character is more able of captivating public's affection, while she will have a long atonement ahead. Anyway, Watts was able to show the moral and psychological evolution of her character, and that was difficult even for a good actress. The remaining cast, unfortunately, is remarkably insignificant. Toby Jones is good enough but has little to do, as can Diana Rigg and Liev Schreiber. Better than them are the scenarios and cinematography. China has shown in this film some magnificent landscapes, which the film has been able to explore. The soundtrack has some excellent piano pieces of a mournful and sad tone, which harmonizes with the mists, disease and love affairs that are the core of the story itself.

chaswe-28402 Walter Fane decides to punish his wife, Kitty, for having married him. Marry in haste, repent at leisure, as a wise man once said. A woman, who could well have been a contemporary of Kitty Fane, once told me that Somerset Maugham had a better understanding of the differences between male and female mentality than any other writer she had ever read. Whether this had anything to do with his homosexuality I really couldn't say, but it struck me as an unusually interesting observation. The portrayal of both sides of the Fane couple in this film impressed me as exceptional. This was not only due to the writing but to the superlative performances and direction. Both parties, as well as Waddington, gave immensely nuanced turns. I knew couples exactly like this, but somehow their depiction here gave me a deeper insight into the nature of their relationship than even the reality. Astonishingly, Norton impressed as more English than the English.The setting in the China of the 1920s and '30s was also remarkably fine. Checking out this production on Wikipedia, I was taken aback by the lukewarm reception it had been given on its release by critics in America, in the New York and Los Angeles Times newspapers, and Variety. The extraordinary effort that had clearly been put into its production had apparently gone unrecognized. The reviews seem uniformly obtuse. There must be a culture and generation gap here. For Englishmen of a certain age and background the film is an achievement of pinpoint accuracy, and devastating irony. Perhaps there's something uniquely British about it, in spite of Norton being American. A deep-rooted appreciation of the emotional isolation of colonial life, its exile and sacrifices.

Thanos Karagioras "The Painted Veil" is a drama movie in which we watch a British doctor who is going with his wife to China in order to fight a cholera epidemic. But in this fight another one will come out as he will find out that his wife is unfaithful.I really liked this movie because it represents very well the truth about this very serious epidemic which destroyed many villages and killed so many people. The direction which made by John Curran was very good and because of this many things which I believe was important shower in a very nice way. Edward Norton who played as Dr. Walter Fane was for one more time simply outstanding and the same I can say about the interpretation of Naomi Watts who played as his wife.Lastly I believe that "The Painted Veil" is a very nice movie which combines very well drama with romance and shows us what a person has to get through in order to become better. To become better person not only for the others but also for himself.