The Painted Veil - Movie Recommendation

By Anthony:

One of our favorite movies is called, "The Painted Veil."  It's basically a love story, but also a movie about medical work overseas and living in a foreign culture.  Here is the summary from IMDB: A British medical doctor fights a cholera epidemic in a small Chinese village, while being trapped at home in a loveless marriage to an unfaithful wife.  It stars Edward Norton and Naomi Watts, who both did a great job acting.  It's rated PG-13.  Be warned there are some sex scenes.

It's hard for us not to like this movie as we are missionaries and it's always fun seeing people try to fit into a new culture, and see the ways that they do that well, and the ways that they do it badly.  The setting of this movie takes place in the early 1900's and the characters fit the time period, being a bit ethnocentric.  Yet, even with their flaws, they serve the people and form some good relationships.

We also like that the movie's love story is quite unique for Hollywood.  It shows a more realistic view of marriage.  It shows that marriage involves suffering, and also that forgiveness is essential.  It shows a marriage which doesn't begin with romantic love.  In most movies, people fall wildly in love and then supposedly live happily ever after.  In real life, even as most marriages begin full of excitement and romantic love, things get difficult at times, and it's not all happily ever after.  But the beautiful thing is watching how the suffering and shared experience transform the characters.  The movie shows the shallowness of romance, and shows what real love is like.  But I won't say more than that, don't want to spoil it for you.

On top of that, it is a movie that I think shows a good illustration of sanctification.  Each of the characters goes through changes in the movie.  In certain ways they are both unlikeable to begin with in different ways.  You get frustrated with both of them.  But over time we see them learn and grow and become less selfish.

There is not a lot of talk about spirituality or the Christian faith.  But the characters do have some interaction with nuns working in the city helping cholera victims.  Because of this there are a few interesting faith conversations, and the characters definitely grow as a result of their interactions with the nuns.

This movie is very moving in many ways.  Please give it a watch and let us know what you think.  There is also a book, which the movie was based on, which we have read.  The book's story is fairly different, but we also really like the book, for its own powerful message different from the messages of the movie.