Message from vbautista

[Anonymous]

Clay Dube mentioned the film The Painted Veil in class some time ago, and I view it today. It’s a love story set in China in 1925. A young doctor named Walter marries a woman he has only met for a few days. Kitty, his new bride, only accepts the marriage proposal because she wants to leave her parents’ home. Soon after the wedding, Walter takes his bride to Shanghai. Kitty commits adultery. Walter discovers her infidelity and gives her an ultimatum. Walter will either file for divorce and reveal her affair, or Kitty can join him in a small town that is in the midst of a cholera epidemic. Kitty reluctantly agrees to venture into the interior of China.

The marriage is rekindled as they discover new redeeming facets of their personality, both come to accept one another’s faults, and encounter hardships they both overcome together. I don’t want to ruin the movie for anyone interested, but its ending is sorrowful.

The scenes of China are incredibly beautiful and the audience gains a very small glimpse into the lives of the townspeople. The Pained Veil does present the tension between the Chinese and foreigners during this period. There is reference to the conflict between the nationalist and the “imperialistic Americans in China” as the doctor and Colonel Yu have a private conversation in the hinterland of China. I could possibly use this video as a springboard to introduce the political turmoil in China, Chinese perspective of American presence, and discussion of foreign relations between the two countries.