I finally got to see my movie last night! Ed Norton and Naomi Watts both give meaningful performances in The Painted Veil. The ending was unfortunately rather predictable… this is a movie about a cholera epidemic, after all, but aside from that, it’s altogether worth seeing. The movie begins with a bored Kitty, played by Naomi Watts, faced with an improbable marriage to Walter, Ed Norton, a quiet bacteriologist living in China. Walter’s fantasy of a happy marriage is quickly shattered when Kitty, disappointed by her rather milk-toast husband, seeks out an affair early into the relationship. Walter insists that Kitty accompany him into the interior country of China where he has volunteered to assist with a cholera outbreak, or face the public humiliation of a divorce. A reluctant Kitty follows Walter on his volunteer mission, where she is constantly surprised by the indifference and cruelty Walter now shows her.

From here, the movie explores the human capacity for forgiveness as Kitty and Walter begin to appreciate each other’s character. This is actually the central point of the movie- that perhaps the deepest love does not arise out of passion, but rather an understanding and appreciation for the nature of a person.

And then, of course, one of them dies from cholera. The end. Still, go rent it. It's beautiful.