In this remake of the 1934 Greta Garbo vehicle, Edward Norton plays a brainy, self-absorbed bacteriologist who finds out about his beautiful wife Naomi Watts’ steamy affair with a caddish vice consul played by Liev Schreiber. In revenge against her, and himself, Norton exiles them both to the center of a cholera epidemic in the nether regions of China. Toby Jones is perfect as the deputy commissioner gone native, and a wonderfully wrinkled Diana Rigg is a natural as mother superior. The movie was shot on location in China and its sense of time and place is unusual, exotic, and authentic. The Painted Veil intelligently follows the unusual arc of the Norton/Watts marriage: strangers, enemies, friends, and finally lovers. It is a beautiful love story and I highly recommend it. 3.75 out of 4 stars on the Dr. Moe scale.
---Dr. Moe
---Dr. Moe
