Edward Norton The Painted Veil Press Conference Friday, December 15th The Regency Hotel Written by Wendy R. Williams

John Curran’s The Painted Veil, based on the novel by W. Somerset Maugham, opened in New York City on December 20, 2006. I reviewed the movie and then had a chance attend the press conference, where we were able to talk briefly to Edward Norton and director John Curran. Here is a copy of my review, the press conference follows.

John Curran’s
The Painted Veil

Reviewed by Wendy R. Williams

Starring: Edward Norton; Naomi Watts; Live Schreiber; Toby Keith; Diana Rigg; and Anthony Wong.

John Curran’s The Painted Veil (based on the W. Somerset Maugham novel of the same name) is a poignantly beautiful Merchant Ivory style period piece.

Here is a quote from the press release: “Based on the classic novel by W. Somerset Maugham, The Painted Veil, set in the 1920s, is the love story of a young English couple, Walter (a middle class doctor), and Kitty (an upper-class woman), who get married for the wrong reasons and relocate to Shanghai where she falls in love with someone else. When he uncovers her infidelity, in an act of vengeance, he accepts a job in a remote village in China ravaged by a deadly epidemic, and takes her along. Their journey brings meaning to their relationship and gives them purpose in one of the most remote and beautiful places on earth.”

Kitty (played by Naomi Watts) and her soon-to-be husband, Dr. Walter Fane (Edward Norton), meet in London. Walter is a scientist (bacteriologist) in town on business and his main business seems to be to “shop” for a wife. He is introduced to Kitty (a pretty vain young woman) by her father, a man who has an unmarried daughter on his hands who is perhaps getting too close to thirty. In 1920’s London, marriage was still considered to be a financial transaction and this is certainly the view held by Kitty’s parents and by Walter. Walter is a young man with prospects and he views the selection of a wife the same way one would view purchasing a home. And it never occurs to him that his new wife would be anything but delighted with the arrangement; he is not vain, he is simply adding up the numbers.

Kitty, while certainly not a feminist, has a different view of the world; she is bored, vapid and indecisive. So off she goes to Shanghai as the new wife of Dr. Walter Fane, the young scientist with prospects. There she meets a dashing young diplomat, English Vice Consul Charles Townsend (played by Liev Schreiber) and embarks on a torrid affair with as little thought beforehand as she gave marrying a stranger and moving to Shanghai. And this torrid affair is soon discovered by her now horribly disillusioned and vindictive husband who gives Kitty the choice of going off to the provinces with him while he fights a cholera epidemic or being divorced and disgraced. It seems that Kitty's lover, Townsend, is an old fashioned cad and no help whatsoever. So off goes Kitty, with her flapper clothing and lace umbrella, to unwillingly “stand by her man” as he fights cholera in the provinces.

There the story changes: Guangxi Province (the location of the Walter’s new appointment) is a stunningly beautiful place with soaring mountains and wonderfully lush vegetation; the cinematography is breathtaking. Walter is immediately thrown into his work and Kitty is pretty much left to her own devices. She meets the neighbor, Waddington (played by Infamous’ incredibly talented Toby Keith), who is living a life of dissolution which is predictably attractive to Kitty. But she also ventures into town where she begins to spend time at the orphanage/hospital and meets the nuns and the Mother Superior (played by the incomparable Diana Rigg).

And for the first time in her life, Kitty is needed for something; there is an enormous amount of work to be done at the orphanage and some very appealing orphans. And by getting out of herself and giving of herself, she begins to change. And as she changes, she forces Walter to see her in a new light.

And Walter is also forced to change and reexamine his rigid view of the world by his interaction with the local Chinese Colonel Yu (played by Chinese actor Anthony Wong). Yu has a jaundiced view of the help he is receiving from England, a country that is both sending scientists to help them and soldiers to shoot at them.

There are many things that are wonderful about this film. The acting is superb and skillfully directed. Naomi Watts and Edward Norton react to each other like a beautifully timed Swiss watch. And Liev Schreiber, Toby Keith, Diana Rigg and Anthony Wong are simply great in their roles. Ron Nyswaner did a fine job of adapting Maugham’s novel to the screen. And as I mentioned before, the scenery is simply stunning and so are the sets.

But I have to rave about the costumes; the costumes are simply magnificent. Costume designer Ruth Myers (The Addams Family and Emma) outdid herself; Kitty’s clothes are gorgeous. They change from the more frivolous flapper dresses of the London and Shanghai scenes to the softer colors in the provincial scenes, but all of them could walk down the runway at Bryant Park today.

The Interview with Edward Norton and John Curran

Question about working in China:

Edward Norton: It was a great experience. Many times making a movie is an artificial experience shot on a set. It is not often that your experiences off set feed into the film itself.

I have always been interested in China but I did not go looking for a film to make in China. The fact that it is in China was a plus. It is the oldest culture and the largest country with a deep history; it is diverse like America. China is in flux now just like it was when the story takes place. [During that time] change was ripping across the country. They were throwing off a culture (the British) that was interfering.

John Curran: Working with our Chinese crew was amazing; they have an unbelievable work ethic.

Question about this type of film:

Edward Norton: I have always looked at film by David Lean or films like Out of Africa and thought how wonderful it would be to be involved in something like that.

John Curran: I encouraged Edward to embrace the theme of the grace that comes with forgiveness.

Question about how the film is different from the book:

Edward Norton: The scene where Kitty asks Walter’s forgiveness if not in the book. In the book she asks her father’s forgiveness.

Question to Edward Norton about what kind of characters he is attracted to:

Edward Norton: I never look at a character and decide if I want to have a beer with him. [Regarding this character] he is cerebral in the beginning and as the story progresses he becomes almost violent and he hurts Kitty equally. And then it turns into compassion.

Question to Edward Norton about working with Naomi Watts:

I can’t say enough good about Naomi. Our performances were so in lock step; it is definitely the closest I have ever worked with another actor. She puts thing over so subtly. Her scene with Diana Rigg: that type of performance is gorgeous. I could not have had a better partner. Naomi and I talked about our characters for a couple of years, we also wrote about it (not pretending to be the characters). And both of us relied heavily on John because we had to film out of sequence. He would tell us to do the takes at pitch 1, pitch 2, pitch 3 – and then we would just have to trust him to put it together [in the editing room].

Many thanks to Edward Norton and Chris Curran for talking with www.newyorkcool.com.