The Painted Veil
Maybe I'm crass, but I found Edward Norton's distain for his wife to be more convincing than his love. It felt like the breaking of a woman by a vengeful man. The Piano comes to mind right off, but this film lacks the confusing sadism of Harvey Keitel which becomes a deep and passionate love. It's that twist that never comes. He is made a saint of sorts instead. Fanny and Alexander has that cruel husband as well. There are lots of them in film. Once were warriors
Ed Norton is almost grateful for the opportunity to be cold, not cruel. He makes her feel like her life has no value and her situation is completely desperate. It's a pretty f'ed up situation.
But I enjoyed it well enough. I think it was well acted. I like Naomi Watts because there is something broken about her appearance. She seems already shattered somehow and I'm intrigued to find out what's the matter with her. That made the opening of this film seem a bit of a stretch. I didn't buy her as a carefree flapper girl. She seemed too aware of the moral reprecussions of other people's actions to not care about her own.
I suppose I am writing this in defence of only giving it 4 stars. It's a lovely film and I don't think it could be better. I think any flaws it has are those of the novel. This is a fine piece of work based on an imperfect story.