This moving adaptation of the novel (of the same name) by W. Somerset Maugham, stars Naomi Watts in the main role of Kitty and Edward Norton as her husband Walter Fane. Kitty is a bored socialite who meets Walter at a party in London. At the urging of her domineering mother they soon marry and after a honeymoon in Venice, move to Shanghai where Walter will study infectious diseases.
Walter becomes engaged in his work while Kitty sits at home bored. She soon finds comfort in the arms of Charles Townsend, a married British Councilman. Walter discovers the affair and in order to punish her threatens to divorce her, or demands that she accompany him to a remote, cholera infected village. She begs to be allowed to divorce him quietly, in order to avoid scandal towards her. He agrees on one condition, that Charles agrees to divorce his wife and marry Kitty. Of course Charles denies her and she decides to accompany her husband rather than have scandal attached to her name.
The take a hard 2 week trip across the countryside and arrive at the village where Kitty learns that it would have been faster and easier to take a river trip. She also learns that there is an inoculation for cholera that would give them more safety from the disease. It seams that Walter is punishing her for her affair.
Walter begins to make a real impact on the town and shuts down many wells and water access. Although this frustrates the town, it will help to contain the cholera outbreak. Without talking to Walter, Kitty begins volunteering at the orphanage. One day he discovers her, and it seems to rekindle his affection for her. As his success increases, their marriage improves and Kitty discovers she is pregnant. Even though they don’t know if the baby is Walter’s or her lover’s, Walter declares, “it doesn’t matter, now.”
When Walter goes to a refuge camp, he becomes ill with cholera. Kitty rushes to his side to take care of him. Unfortunately, he dies and is immediately buried. The film ends with Kitty walking the streets of London holding her son’s hand.
This is not a movie to watch while recovering from tonsil surgery. Crying is painful, and there were multiple points in this movie where I felt sad and helpless. Cholera is a horrible disease that causes a person to loose all liquids in their body. The disease is relatively quick, and painful. The movie did a great job of illustrating the Cholera epidemic in China.
The cinematography is gorgeous! The director found a remote village in mainland China. This village was relatively unchanged since the early 1900’s making it a great representation of the village Kitty and Walter visit. The Chinese government permitted the filming as long as a Chinese production company had license to edit. The main objection of the Chinese production company was to the portrayal of the uprisings and of the cholera victims. Only 38 seconds had to be edited out.
Walter becomes engaged in his work while Kitty sits at home bored. She soon finds comfort in the arms of Charles Townsend, a married British Councilman. Walter discovers the affair and in order to punish her threatens to divorce her, or demands that she accompany him to a remote, cholera infected village. She begs to be allowed to divorce him quietly, in order to avoid scandal towards her. He agrees on one condition, that Charles agrees to divorce his wife and marry Kitty. Of course Charles denies her and she decides to accompany her husband rather than have scandal attached to her name.
The take a hard 2 week trip across the countryside and arrive at the village where Kitty learns that it would have been faster and easier to take a river trip. She also learns that there is an inoculation for cholera that would give them more safety from the disease. It seams that Walter is punishing her for her affair.
Walter begins to make a real impact on the town and shuts down many wells and water access. Although this frustrates the town, it will help to contain the cholera outbreak. Without talking to Walter, Kitty begins volunteering at the orphanage. One day he discovers her, and it seems to rekindle his affection for her. As his success increases, their marriage improves and Kitty discovers she is pregnant. Even though they don’t know if the baby is Walter’s or her lover’s, Walter declares, “it doesn’t matter, now.”
When Walter goes to a refuge camp, he becomes ill with cholera. Kitty rushes to his side to take care of him. Unfortunately, he dies and is immediately buried. The film ends with Kitty walking the streets of London holding her son’s hand.
This is not a movie to watch while recovering from tonsil surgery. Crying is painful, and there were multiple points in this movie where I felt sad and helpless. Cholera is a horrible disease that causes a person to loose all liquids in their body. The disease is relatively quick, and painful. The movie did a great job of illustrating the Cholera epidemic in China.
The cinematography is gorgeous! The director found a remote village in mainland China. This village was relatively unchanged since the early 1900’s making it a great representation of the village Kitty and Walter visit. The Chinese government permitted the filming as long as a Chinese production company had license to edit. The main objection of the Chinese production company was to the portrayal of the uprisings and of the cholera victims. Only 38 seconds had to be edited out.
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