My first instinct after watching and enjoying any film is to find a review of it that affirms and helps me make sense of my own reaction. After watching the Painted Veil, I took a long deep breath and, without understanding why, felt a rare sense of immense satisfaction. In my quest to understand my reaction, I have read many reviews but only yours captures a bit of why I enjoyed the film so much.

I only lament that the Painted Veil didn't receive its well-deserved acknowledgment from film award committees.

"Within the picture's grand scope, there's always some small scene, or some delicately wrought supporting performance, to keep us grounded in the intimacy of the story."

Absolutely true. Although I think I was distracted by the gorgeous scenery in many parts of the film, I think that will only make the second, third... viewing more interesting. I buy fewer and fewer videos these days but I will be buying a copy of this when it comes out, if only for the splendid performance of A La Claire Fontaine at the end of the film and oddly omitted on the CD.

This is a jewel of a picture. The two leads are excellent. The score deserved a Golden Globe and the use of the piano music of Erik Satie, a pleasure for the ears. Please go see it soon so that this subtle and beautiful film will reach the audience that it deserves.

Another compelling review from Zacharek, Salon's secret gem. Like Ebert at his infrequent finest, she's not afraid to love The Movies or a movie, and more important, to judge a work on its own terms, grand or humble as they may be.

(Regarding the costume dramas of Merchant-Ivory, go ahead and write off most of their work in one parenthetical swipe, but spare a kind word for their masterpiece, The Remains of the Day. Instead of merely strutting about in period costume, its one film where you see the actors struggle to find the characters inside the clothes - characters who, delightfully, hauntingly, heartbreakingly, are engaged in the same struggle.)

That before I read this review I had no interest in the Painted Veil. Thank you Stephanie for making the movie very very interesting to me, I'm no longer much of a theatre goer (my husband hates the theatre) but I'll be sure to add it to my Netflix list!

After all the bashing in these letters week after week, finally people are waking up to the fact that Ms. Zacharek is a wonderful and thoughtful movie critic. Bravo, Steph... and bravo letter writers! =B=

Here's a Maugham story I don't know. He's the author of my favorite book, "The Razor's Edge" and had a keener insight into human frailty than most every other writer I've read. Not nearly as funny as Mark Twain, Maugham doesn't get the credit he deserves for his expositions of human nature. I'll be sure to see this film even if it doesn't fit the mood I'm in. Maugham, Norton, Dame Diana Rigg and Naomi Watts? Yeah, I'd say that's worth seven bucks.

Have we already forgotten Crouching Tiger, The English Patient?

Some of us wish we could.

Have we already forgotten Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon? What of The English Patient?

that was my first gut reponse after i had read it. i saw the trailer on salon before i read the review, and while it looked like another the world-as-white-mans-playground movie and i really want to see this movie in spite of that based on the review. good romance movies are hard to come by.

I agree with ~Sands~: this is a very well-written piece, informative without being forthcoming of plot details.

I look forward to seeing the movie, and would love to see more reviews like this one. Stephanie Zacharek, I'll look for your stuff from now on. Thank you!

What a lovely review. It does what a review should do: criticizes (the word does not mean "negatives only") and intrigues. I can't wait to see this movie. It helps that it's the kind of movie I want to see -- not nearly enough of these are produced.

Yikes! Not even a mention that, while the film might recall the great tradition of Hollywood studio-era films, it's also a remake of one of them? I do agree that going full-throttle on this kind of picture is a daring (and very welcome) move in this day and age, but at the same time, Norton, Watts, et. al. are standing on the shoulders of giants, the immortal Greta Garbo not least among them.