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The Painted Veil

The Painted Veil

Romance · Drama · 2006

A British medical doctor fights a cholera outbreak in a small Chinese village, while also being trapped at home in a loveless marriage to an unfaithful wife.

Movie details

The Painted Veil

“Sometimes the greatest journey is the distance between two people.”

2006 Romance · Drama 2h 5m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

7.3 / 10

Community rating

A British medical doctor fights a cholera outbreak in a small Chinese village, while also being trapped at home in a loveless marriage to an unfaithful wife.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Painted Veil?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

John Curran

Written by

Ron Nyswaner

Edward Norton

Edward Norton

Dr. Walter Fane

Naomi Watts

Naomi Watts

Kitty Fane

Liev Schreiber

Liev Schreiber

Charlie Townsend

Toby Jones

Toby Jones

Mr. Waddington

Diana Rigg

Diana Rigg

Mother Superior

Anthony Wong Chau-Sang

Anthony Wong Chau-Sang

Colonel Yu

Xia Yu

Xia Yu

Wu Lien

Court is in session

Put The Painted Veil on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Adrenaline Seeker

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.