The Painted Veil

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The Painted Veil is a 2006 drama based on the novel of the same name by W. Somerset Maugham and stars Edward Norton and Naomi Watts.

Kitty Garstin is a shallow Socialite who decides to marry boring bacteriologist Walter Fane when she finds that she's out of suitors and her mother pushes her to make the match. Walter's work takes him to Shanghai, and there Kitty settles into married life and embarks on an affair with Charles Townsend, the married British vice consul. Walter discovers the affair and offers Kitty two options: divorce on the grounds of adultery, or she can go with him to a small village out in the country where a cholera epidemic is in full swing. Realising Charlie won't leave his wife for her, Kitty accompanies Walter to the village.

Tropes used in The Painted Veil include:
  • Character Development: In spades- Kitty gets to see Walter at work, and sees how respected and liked he is. In turn, Walter sees Kitty volunteering at the orphanage and sees that she isn't as shallow as he first thought.
  • Fake Brit: Americans Edward Norton and Liev Schreiber.
  • Love Martyr: Walter married Kitty knowing how selfish she was, but he still loved her and thought she would change.
  • Me Love You Long Time: Waddington and Wan Xi
  • Nuns-N-Rosaries: The French order running the orphanage in the village.
  • The Plague: Walter goes to Mei-Tan-Fu to try and stop a Cholera epidemic from spreading. In the end, he is killed by the disease.
  • Romance on the Set: Liev Schrieber and Naomi Watts got together during the making of the film.
  • Scenery Porn: The scenes in rural China
  • Sexless Marriage: When Walter discovers Kitty's adultery and takes her to Mei-Tan-Fu. They eventually make up, resulting in a Sexy Discretion Shot
  • Someone to Remember Him By: Kitty regards her son as Walter's child and tells him about his father.
  • The Unfair Sex: Averted heavily. The entire film is pretty much on Walter's side and makes Kitty earn her forgiveness.
  • Unwanted Spouse: Walter is this when he marries Kitty, but then Kitty assumes the role when her adultery is uncovered.
  • Who's Your Daddy?: Kitty is unsure of whether her unborn child is Walter's or Charlie's, but Walter agrees to raise the child as his own, and ultimately Kitty treats the child as his.
    • In the book It was definitely Charlie's.
  • Your Cheating Heart
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